Los Angeles magazine - August 2021

B E AU T Y FOOD FA S H I O N KIDS C U LT U R E SHOPPING P E TS FITNESS NIGHTLIFE

$5.95 AU G U ST 2 0 2 1 L A M AG .CO M

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delicious

Celebrate summer with incredible dining, delectable treats, relaxed shopping, and unforgettable experiences.

E ATA LY • D I N TA I F U N G • J AV I E R ’ S PA N I N I K A B O B G R I L L • C A L I F O R N I A P I Z Z A K I T C H E N ZINQUÉ • SHAKE SHACK • & MORE

W E S T F I E L D.C O M

AUGUST 2021

PA RT Y ON A N D ON

Nikki Haskell has met so many influential people over the course of her life—celebrities, world-famous artists, politicians—that she had to throw herself not one but three 80th-birthday bashes.

Features 54

72

78

86

Nikki at Night

The Devil’s Bargain

Real Estate Confidential

Empires of the Sun

Studio 54 “It” girl! Wizard of Wall Street! Jet-setting socialite! Selfie-stick entrepreneur! Eighty-year-old Nikki Haskell is still the life of every party. But don’t ask her about Donald Trump.

In 1995, Tupac Shakur was at Rikers Island on sexual assault charges when L.A. rap entrepreneur Suge Knight offered to pay his $3 million bail on the condition he sign with Knight's Death Row Records. A year later, Shakur was dead.

Six of Los Angeles’s most powerful realtors dish among themselves about clients from hell and the horrors of open houses, plus the straight dope about the cons—but mostly pros—of selling eight-figure properties in the middle of a pandemic.

From Taco Bell to McDonald’s, Wienerschnitzel to IHOP, most of the fast-food giants that conquered the world were cooked up in SoCal. A look back at the origins of the real California cuisine.

BY SHELDON PEARCE

BY ALEXANDRIA ABRAMIAN

BY BENJAMIN SVETKEY

8 L A M AG . C O M

BY CHRIS NICHOLS

P H O T O G R A P H E D BY J O S E F JA S S O

Your favorite brands. Incredible food. Unforgettable events.

Five-star concierge. Oceanside getaways.

It's all h e.

Explore our neighborhood guide of what to do, shop and eat this summer.

T H E G R OV E • T H E A M E R I C A N A AT B R A N D • PA L I S A D E S V I L L AG E T H E C O M M O N S AT CA L A B A S A S • T H E L A K E S AT T H O U S A N D OA K S WAT E R S I D E AT M A R I N A D E L R E Y • T H E P R O M E N A D E AT W E S T L A K E V I L L AG E AT M O O R PA R K • E N C I N O M A R K E T P L AC E R O S E WO O D M I R A M A R B E AC H

SUMMER.CARUSO.COM

AUGUST 2021

Buzz BOTS GONE WILD » A small army of semiautonomous robots is mobilizing to replace your tatted Postmates delivery dude.

BY MERLE GINSBERG PAGE 17

THE BRIEF » California’s celebrity tax delinquents, including Courtney Love and Steven Seagal; can 60 bus ads make Freddie Basnight the next household name? Jeff Bezos’s ex just donated $2.74 billion to a dozen Los Angeles nonprofits.

CRIME STORY » What’s causing L.A.’s crime wave? The city is on track to record 437 murders this year, the most since 2006.

Theories abound, but no one really knows why.

BY HILLEL ARON PAGE 22

Ask Chris LINES IN THE SAND

Angelenos queue up for scrumptious cake from Best of L.A. winner House of Gluten and delicious ice cream from reader favorite Salt & Straw.

Best of L.A.

» Just in time for the post-pandemic boom, we’re back with our annual,

» Which restaurant in L.A. does McDonald’s use to film its TV ads? Who owns the amusement park at the end of the Santa Monica Pier, and how long has it been there? What's the biggest cemetery in Los Angeles? Our resident historian answers all your burning questions.

BY CHRIS NICHOLS PAGE 120

up-to-the-minute list of the city’s finest fare. From veterinarians to vintage shops, toy stores to tacos, swimsuits to psychics, our team of reporters tore up the city to find the best things to do, eat, and buy right now. Plus, the top hair colorist, facial boutique, and lash salon to get you glammed up for the good times.

P H O T O G R A P H E D BY RYA N S C H U D E

ON THE COVER Cover art Tristan Eaton

10 L A M AG . C O M

BEST OF L.A.: MODELS: DAMIAN DRAGON; ROBBIE PITTS, JACKIE BEAT, MIA PFUTZENREUTER & JEREMIAH ALARCON, SASHA MONDRAGON-FIELD, OLIVER SMITH, MELINDA PFUTZENREUTER, NOVA PFUTZENREUTER, AND SALVADOR DOGÍ; PROP STYLIST: AVA JONES; HAIR AND MAKEUP: KIRA ISFAN; KITEč MERCI MILO; ICE CREAM: SALT & STRAW; CAKE: HOUSE OF GLUTEN

PAGE 20

Shinshu. A land of majestic nature.

A spring of constant inspiration for Grand Seiko.

Here, light and shadow are in dynamic harmony.

And Time flows in seamless motion.

Here, the TAKUMI infuse the essence of Nature into each and every timepiece, bringing its true beauty to life.

Shinshu, Nagano Prefecture

BY MAER ROSHAN

Tristan Eaton

I F T H I S M O N T H ’ S C O V E R art

looks vaguely familiar, that’s because the boundary-pushing iconoclast who designed it— famed street artist Tristan Eaton—took inspiration from actual signs scattered around Los Angeles. The “B” in “Best,” for example, comes from the neon lights adorning the iconic, 93-year-old Broadway Hollywood Building at Hollywood and Vine, while the “A” in “Los Angeles” was based on a humble “CLEARANCE SALE ” sign he spotted in the window of F & S Fabrics on Pico and Overland. In other words, Eaton’s art isn’t just high and low, it’s eastside, westside, and points north and south as well.

Los Angeles has a long history of using its covers to showcase local photographers and artists with national and even international reputations, but Eaton—who grew 1 2 L A M AG . C O M

“After all that L.A. and the world have been through, there’s a lot to celebrate about our city, which is finally stirring back to postpandemic life.”

up in Hollywood and spent his early years tagging buildings in London, Detroit, and New York before returning to L.A. when he was 35—is our first with interstellar reach.

Last year, one of his works—Human Kind, gold, brass, and aluminum plates featuring images of a human hand and a mother chimp with her baby—hitched a ride on an Elon Musk SpaceX rocket and got an out-ofthis-world exhibition on the International Space Station.

Cosmic art, though, is only one of many high points in Eaton’s extraordinary career; he also designed “toys” as part of New York’s urban vinyl movement (many are now part of the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection), created album art for musicians like Everlast, once worked on a Disney animated show called Ninja Boom Box (it lasted one season, which was longer than Eaton thought it would), and, in 2012, designed posters for Barack Obama’s reelection campaign (“Change Happened”).

Of course, just as with books, one should never judge a magazine by its cover. But after 33 years of Best of Los Angeles issues, I’m pretty confident we’ve got a handle on this particular subject. And this year especially—after all that L.A. and the rest of the world have been through—there’s a lot to celebrate about our city, which is finally stirring back to post-pandemic life. In these pages, you’ll find plenty to coax you out of lockdown mode, from the best place in town to order old-school Chinese shrimp fried rice to the best spot to shop for sex toys, along with the best affordable massages, aquarium supplies, surf school, bowling alley, and dog groomer, among scores of other great finds.

And for those who’d still prefer to stay home, there’s plenty of reading matter to keep you entertained on your sofa, including a profile of one-time Studio 54 “It” girl Nikki Haskell (still dancing up a storm at 80), as well as a surprising history of Los Angeles’s contributions to America’s multibilliondollar fast-food industry (take a bow, Wienerschnitzel!). You’ll come away with a brandnew understanding of “California cuisine.”

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @MAERROSHAN

Maer Roshan, Editor-in-Chief P H O T O G R A P H E D BY L I SA F R A NC H O T

H O L LYWO O D P R E M I E R E M OT E L : A L A M Y

Editor’s Note

Maer Roshan

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EXECUTIVE EDITOR

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Mary Franz, Otavio Rabelo, Evan Solano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

BIGGER THAN BOXING. LARGER THAN LIFE.

Alexandria Abramian, Christopher Beam, Alex Bhattacharji, Alex Ben Block, Steven Blum, Samuel Braslow, Susan Campos, Rene Chun, Heidi Siegmund Cuda, Matt Dickinson, Ben Ehrenreich, Steve Erickson, Andrew Goldman, Sarah Horne Grose, Annabelle Gurwitch, Kennedy Hill, Robert Ito, Eliyahu Kamisher, Peter Kiefer, Heather Platt, Jon Regardie, Jordan Riefe, Allen Salkin, Paul Schrodt, Alex Scordelis, Michael Slenske, Bryan Smith, Joel Stein, Benjamin Svetkey, Jean Trinh, Andy Wang, Sam Wasson, Rex Weiner, Jeff Weiss, Laurie Winer, Emily Young CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

A FILM BY KEN BURNS SARAH BURNS & DAVID McMAHON

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L A M AG . C O M 15

IT’S TIME TO VISIT WEST HOLLYWOOD There is so much to rediscover WeHo is world-famous and walkable - and if you haven’t been lately, it’s time to visit and discover brand new hotels, award-winning restaurants, world-class shopping, nightlife and much more.

Go to Visitwesthollywood.com to plan your visit.

08.21

Bots Gone Wild

A SEMIAUTONOMOUS ROBOT NAMED LOLA COULD SOON REPLACE YOUR TATTED POSTMATES DELIVERY DUDE

BY M E R L E G I NS BE RG

I L LU S T R AT I O N BY JA S O N R A I S H

L A M AG . C O M 17

BUZZ

T E C H N O LO GY

box rolling down the streets of your town, know this: it’s not a UFO, though it is the future—of food delivery. Bots are carting lunch, dinner, and grocery orders to Angelenos in a much cheaper, more environmentally friendly form than cars or trucks. That’s right, this is how your Pellegrino and Advil PM now roll. Literally.

Semiautonomous delivery robots, in development for years, are getting frequent test drives

by Los Angeles restaurants in WeHo, Santa Monica, and Pacific Palisades. Luxury buildings like Ten Thousand on Santa Monica Boulevard have M E A L S ON W H E E L S been employing bots for a while: for instance, Postmate’s Lola is one of hundreds of bots delivering food Charley, a robot butler, delivers your champagne on the streets of L.A. Below: to your door. But now bots are becoming egaliCoco’s bots can be found at tarian, and, this being L.A., they’ve all got cutesy the Third Street Promenade. names like Pinky and Dotty. Pretty-in-pink Coco lingers on the Third Street Promenade. about one. We’re very popular on Twitter.” CurThe few hundred on the street right now get rently, Serve Robotics visits 10,000 homes via a little help from friends: humans follow on foot “These bots Postmates and Uber Eats. or remotely, even though bots are armed with have GPS. Diego Varela Prada, COO of Kiwibot, believes sensors and programmed to make their way Let’s just say, lower costs are the big bot motivator for delivaround objects, climb short steps, and move up ery apps. “The average order adds 40 percent in to five miles per hour. if you try to fees and tips,” explains Varela. “We only charge It’s the restaurant delivery apps that are most take a bot a few bucks on top of food charges.” invested in robotics. San Francisco-based Posthome, you’re Downsides? Despite sensors and cameras, mates X has spun off into Serve Robotics. Its taking there’s still a bot overboard from time to time. motto? “Why move a 2-pound burrito in a 2-ton “One of our bots got stuck on a sidewalk,” Varecar?” Pink Dot, on the Sunset Strip, employs the police la says. “A guy came out and set him right. Sure, three of them. with you.” people attempt to vandalize them, steal them, Bots have to recharge batteries just like we do and grab their goods. We work closely with the (well, not just like). At night, they’re stored in secity to keep an eye on them. These bots are sevcure recharge facilities and so will not be found eral thousand bucks apiece; they have GPS. Let’s just say, if doing late-night karaoke at Hamburger Mary’s. you try to take a bot home, you’re taking the police with you!”

Ali Kashani heads up Serve Robotics, and his TED Talk on Hence, a Buzzfeed tech reporter created an experiment a its baby cyborgs has been viewed more than a million times. few years back: Was it was possible to steal food from a bot?

In it, he touts the entertainment value of bots: “Turns out He managed to pry one open on his second try. Still, bots kids love them! They’re designed to look friendly. Some peohave eyes literally in the back of their heads—meaning, cample chase bots on foot to take photos. Chrissy Teigen posted eras on all sides. So as a result of Buzzfeed’s staged smashand-grab, the technology has been upgraded—let’s just say the current generation of bots is practically Fort Box. DoorDash, with over 20,000 miles of testing and in contact with 4 million people, has not had one instance of theft.

Next year, delivery bots will be on the streets of most major American cities. Kiwibot alone will deploy 1,000 across the U.S. How do human delivery workers feel about losing jobs to programmed shopping carts? One DoorDash employee was recorded cursing a bot: “I hate your face!”

Kashani thinks there are a lot of misconceptions about bots stealing jobs. “ATMs didn’t replace tellers,” he says.

“ATMs led to more teller jobs. I’m of the belief that this will lead to more jobs because more people will use food delivery.”

In the near future, experts concur, bots will likely be delivering all your heart’s short-distanced desires: dresses for lastminute dates, the coffee filters you forgot, and, yes, toilet paper. But for right now, you’ll have to settle for pizza.

18 L A M AG . C O M

TO P : G OT PA P/ B AU E R - G R I F F I N /G C I M AG E S ; B OT TO M : PAT R I C K T. FA L LO N /A F P V I A G E T T Y I M AG E S

I F YO U S E E A L A R G E S Q UA R E

N E WS & N OT E S F R O M A L L OV E R

The Brief

Seagal, Howard, Love, and Madsen.

action figure is allegedly being called to account for $216,361. Always one to make interesting choices, last year the Russian citizen (by way of presidential decree by pal Vladimir Putin) agreed to pay $314,000 in disgorgement and penalties in a Securities and Exchange Commission settlement for “unlawfully touting” a cryptocurrency investment.

MEET CALIFORNIA’S CELEBRITY TAX DEADBEATS THE STATE’S SEMIANNUAL LIST OF TOP TAX DELINQUENTS HAS PLENTY OF STAR POWER

BY IAN SPEIGELMAN

WITH MOVIE

theaters just creeping back to life, some of Hollywood’s brightest have another way to keep their names out there this summer—by landing themselves on the State of California Franchise Tax Board’s Top 500 delinquent taxpayers list.

By law, the agency must publish the Golden State’s biggest personal income tax delinquencies over $100,000 at least twice a year. And Page Six has scanned the June roster for some of this round’s outstanding performers.

Great at acting, just not at real life, Michael Madsen has the competition beat with an alleged tax debt of $509,030. This isn’t the first time Madsen has been killed by bills. When he declared bankruptcy in 2009, he owed director Quentin Tarantino $1 million and Pierce Brosnan $25,000. In 2013, Madsen 20 L A M AG . C O M

paid $640,000 in back taxes.

The runner-up, former Hole rock goddess and Golden Globe Best Actress– nominee Courtney Love, is now in an actual hole to the tune of $357,261. Love has garnered critical attention from the government before. In 2017, she reportedly paid $319,749 to settle a 2012 tax bill, as well as $266,861 in 2015 to settle accounts for 2009 and 2011.

Next up: 2006 Best Actor contender Terrence Howard, who’s $295,851 in arrears. This isn’t Howard’s first delinquency rodeo either. He was reportedly investigated for tax evasion in 2019. The Empire star owed $600,000 in 2006, $1.1 million in 2010, and $140,000 in 2019 for tax bills lingering from 2010.

He has reportedly paid off the 2006 and 2010 liens.

Steven Seagal might’ve thought he was Above the Law, but he’s currently Under Siege by the tax man, as the

METRO GOLDEN PLAYER HOLLYWOOD HOPEFULS

“fresh off the bus” have been trying their luck in Tinseltown since before the talkies. But one motivated actor is giving the phrase a whole new meaning.

Freddie Basnight, 36, a U.S. Army veteran who served tours in Iraq before moving to Los Angeles in 2016, is displaying his headshot and future household name on 60 Metro bus advertisements. Of course, struggling actors are no strangers to self-promotion, often shelling out thousands on networking mixers and casting workshops.

But not since perennially aspiring actor-director Dennis Woodruff started plying Hollywood Boulevard in his fleet of “Make My Movie” vehicles in the ’90s (one was destroyed by an asteroid in the opening sequence of Michael Bay’s Armageddon) has an actor so thoroughly leveraged L.A. B U S FA R E

Aspiring filmmaker Basnight’s rolling self-promotion is paying impressive dividends.

transportation into a branding opportunity.

“I always had the billboard idea, but I just never had the financial means to actually pay for it,” Basnight says. After saving up, he plopped down $10,000 on the ads in April, which were to run for one month—or until someone else bought out the ad space. As of yet, no one has. “I feel like I’ve definitely gotten my money’s worth,” Basnight says, pointing to his increased social media mojo and the fact that celebrities have embraced his ads.

Billie Eilish’s brother, Finneas, and musiciancomedian Reggie Watts, both shared images of the bus ads on Instagram, Watts with a simple question mark for a caption.

Actor Justin Long responded to Watts’s post, saying, “I respect the hustle @Freddibasnight!”

And hustle Basnight has: far from just waiting for the calls to roll in, he recently earned his MFA in acting from the New York Film Academy and has written and directed several shorts.

His latest movie, Aftermath, landed on Netflix last month. — R E B E KA H B R A N D E S

TA X D E A D B E ATS : G E T T Y I M AG E S , E N VATO E L E M E N TS ; B U S : @ M I ST E R 24 H O U R S

S TAT E O F PAY

HOW MUCH A $100 WAGER WOULD PAY OFF IF BRITNEY SPEARS’S CONSERVATORSHIP ENDED BEFORE JANUARY 2022.

BETUS.COM, A TOP ONLINE GAMBLING SITE, STARTED TAKING BETS SHORTLY AFTER THE SINGER’S COURTROOM APPEARANCE IN JUNE, AND UPDATED THE ODDS WHEN AN L.A. JUDGE SUDDENLY REJECTED SPEARS’S APPEAL.

TOTAL RECALL W I T H A P O P U L AT I O N

of a mere 130, the city of Vernon hasn’t had a recall election in 115 years. Now the tiny town is the latest to jump on this year’s biggest

town was the inspiration for Vinci, California, the corrupt metropolis featured in the second season of True Detective.

According to the recall petitions against Diana Gonzales and Carol Menke, both allegedly used

members William Davis and Melissa Ybarra—Davis, 81, for lacking the “mental competence” to do the job; Ybarra, for nepotism.

It’s unclear whether Vernon’s recall elections will actually reverse the city’s longstanding tolerance for political malfeasance, but if nothing else, they should make for some very lively city council meetings.

—VA L E R I E W U

BEZOS BONANZA W H E N MacKenzie Scott

V E R N O N : DAV I D M C N E W/G E T T Y I M AG E S ; CO U N C I L M E M B E R S : CO U R T E SY O F T H E C I T Y O F V E R N O N ; M AC K E N Z I E S COT T: G E T T Y I M AG E S

C I T Y H AU L Former Vernon city council members Diana Gonzales (left) and Carol Menke.

political trend, with not one but two recall elections roiling the Vernon City Council. The first was held in June; the second is slated for September.

Located southeast of downtown, the industrial hub has had such a long history of political scandal and apparent nepotism that it’s surprising recalls aren’t a more regular occurrence. Vernon’s cofounder, John Leonis, served 45 years on the city council and was followed by his grandson, who served 53. In 2007, Forbes launched an investigation into the city administration and found that it was essentially run by two families: the Malburgs and the Malkenhorsts. The magazine recounted how, in 1980, Malkenhorst Sr. evicted a cop for running against the family’s preferred candidate. The

their influence as council members to enter into a flawed agreement with a solar developer who had previously been accused of stealing $20 million from the City of Industry.

Sixty-nine percent of voters supported Gonzales’s recall; 73 percent favored Menke’s. They were replaced by newcomers Judith Merlo and Crystal Larios. Menke and Gonzales, who had both served since 2019, denied the allegations and charged that the recall was a backlash against their efforts to question Mayor Leticia Lopez about her purported manipulation of the cityowned housing lottery system. “I still don’t believe we did anything wrong,” Menke told the Pasadena Star-News.

The next recall election in September will decide the fates of council

and Jeff Bezos divorced in 2019 and Scott became the fourth-richest woman on earth, she immediately promised to give away her money “until the safe is empty.” Now she’s making good on that promise, announcing in a Medium post in June that she donated $2.74 billion of her estimated $60 billion fortune to 286 nonprofits, with more than a dozen of the beneficiaries located in Southern California.

This is Scott’s third round of massive endowments in 11 months—totaling more than $8 billion—in an effort she describes as “attempting to give away a fortune that was enabled by systems in need of change.”

Explaining how she and her team chose the latest recipients, Scott writes, “Because community-centered service is such a powerful catalyst and multiplier, we spent the first quarter of 2021 identifying and evaluating equity-oriented nonprofit teams working in areas that

$170 have been neglected . . . in categories and communities that have been historically underfunded and overlooked.”

As ABC7 reported, the lucky locals in Los Angeles include South Central’s community center A Place Called Home; the Asian Pacific Community Fund; the Center for Cultural Innovation; and Homeboy Industries’s gang intervention service. Scott and her husband, science teacher Dan Jewett, are also donating to a swath of Southern California colleges. Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach City College got $40 million and $30 million, respectively, the largest donations they’ve ever received. “We are incredibly honored and humbled to receive this extraordinary gift from a game-changing philanthropist committed to the notion that there is no us and them, only us,” Homeboy Industries CEO Thomas Vozzo said. — I . S .

SCOTT FREE

Bezos’s ex has donated millions to L.A.-area beneficiaries.

BUZZ

CRIME

Dead End

LOS ANGELES IS ON TRACK TO RECORD 437 MURDERS THIS YEAR, THE MOST SINCE 2006. THEORIES ABOUND—COVID-19, THE GEORGE FLOYD BACKLASH AGAINST POLICE. BUT THE FACT IS, NO ONE REALLY KNOWS WHY. “IT’S A PUZZLE,” SAYS A CRIME EXPERT

BY H I L L E L A RON

22 L A M AG . C O M

IN 1993, a Time cover story asked, “Is Los Angeles going to hell?” The city was still reeling from the Rodney King riots, still gripped by gang violence, still mired in the crack epidemic. For the third year in a row, more than 1,000 men and women would be murdered within the city’s jagged borders. And so the question wasn’t complete hyperbole.

And then a funny thing happened: crime started to tick steadily downward, not only in L.A. but across the nation. Social scientists struggled to explain the unexpected shift. There was the “broken windows” theory (popularized by Malcolm Gladwell’s best-seller The Tipping Point); the abortion theory, detailed in the best-seller Freakonomics); and the lead-crime hypothesis (promoted by Mother Jones in 2016).

Some said it was tougher laws and longer jail sentences. Some said it was the aging population. Whatever the reason, the drop in crime transformed urban

life in America. The problem with cities became not that they were too dangerous but that they were too expensive.

Then, last year, as COVID ravaged the globe, crime took another unexpected turn. Property crime fell; there were fewer burglaries and larcenies.

And there were fewer reported rapes.

But in most cities, including Los Angeles, violent crime went up. There were more than 350 murders in L.A. last year, a 38 percent increase from 2019.

And the trend appears to be continuing. The LAPD reports that in the first 24 weeks of 2021, reports of shots fired were up 48 percent. The number of people wounded by gun violence was up 50 percent. And homicides were up 26 percent. Los Angeles is on track to record 437 murders this year, the most since 2006.

“It’s a puzzle,” says David Abrams, a University of Pennsylvania law professor who runs the City Crime Stats website. “I think a lot of people are trying I L LU S T R AT I O N BY E VA N S O L A NO

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Contact Shelby J. Russell, President & Publisher at srussell@lamag.com

CRIME

to understand it. I haven’t seen anything comlice and stigmatize the police, there’s gonna be pelling that fully nails it.” a natural pullback from the police,” he says. “PoCaptain Paul Vernon ran the Los Angeles lice are not going to be as proactive in making Police Department’s COMPSTAT division unstops—in initiating activity—if they believe the til this past April. Vernon spent much of 2020 result of that is going to be them getting fired trying to figure out what was behind the rise in or being called a racist.” killings. Some were quick to blame the spike on The upshot, according to cops like Vernon, “If you’re going COVID. But, says Vernon, homicides and aggrais that criminals feel emboldened, more comto walk up to vated assaults were up in the first two months fortable carrying a gun, maybe even more someone and of 2020, before the pandemic took hold in the comfortable using one. shoot them, U.S. When stay-at-home orders were issued in Needless to say, Vernon’s view is controveryou’re going March, there was a large drop in property crime, sial, disputed by activists who argue the rise in accompanied by a smaller drop in violent crime. homicides has more to do with economic conto be more Then, in May, George Floyd was murdered ditions than lack of police presence. successful at

by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chau“The idea that police demoralization could hitting your vin, triggering protests across the country. have resulted in the kinds of homicide increastarget, and And for reasons that are now the subject of es we’re talking about really strains credulity,” you’re going some debate, Floyd’s death marked an inflecsays Richard Rosenfeld, a professor of criminolto be more tion point; in its aftermath, killings surged in ogy at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. “If most American cities. The murder rate in Milthe police are pulling back, why is it that it only lethal.” waukee nearly doubled. Washington, D.C. saw affected the homicide rates? Why not the propa 64 percent increase in homicides. Murders erty crime rate?” He adds, “There could have in Philadelphia hit a 30-year high. been some impact on homicide. But a 35 perWhen he looked at the L.A. data, the first thing Vernon nocent increase in Los Angeles? Highly doubtful.” ticed was that the spike wasn’t evenly distributed across the Alternate theories abound. David Abrams’s best guess: The city. Shootings were rising in the same places that already pandemic upset the delicate balance between different gangs had disproportionately high numbers—south of the 10 freeand organized criminals. Some may have returned from a way, east of the L.A. River. Most of the increase in gun crime self-imposed quarantine last summer to find their turf taken was due to shootings with multiple victims. Vernon also noover, which might have led to fighting. ticed a prevalence of “walk-up” shootings. “If you’re going Others blame criminal justice reforms enacted across the to walk up to someone and shoot them,” he says, “you’re country, including those by L.A. County District Attorney George going to be more successful at hitting your target, and Gascón. In May, for instance, Glendora police arrested and reyou’re going to be more lethal.” leased the same man three different times for three different car Why the sudden rise in gun violence? Vernon’s theory is thefts in a single day. The police blamed a new COVID-era polone promulgated by a number of U.S. police departments: deicy of not jailing people arrested for certain low-level felonies. creased police presence in high-crime areas. Some of this was There are also more guns on the street, and perhaps more imby design. In October 2019, the LAPD announced that its Metportant, there are higher-caliber weapons with higher-capacity ropolitan Division, a group of 200 officers, would stop pulling magazines. That might explain why there are more shootings over random drivers after a Los Angeles Times investigation with multiple victims. But stabbings are also on the rise this found that traffic stops were disproportionately targeting Black year. Abrams believes the rise in shootings may be less about drivers. And, indeed, traffic stops were down 27 percent in 2020. cops and more about the citizens they are charged with protectBut Vernon says the decrease in police presence was also due ing. “Clearly, something is awry in the relationship between the to another, more organic reason. “If you’re going to call the popolice and the communities they serve,” says Abrams. “People are lice ‘racist,’ if you’re going to call for the defunding of the poeven less likely than before to cooperate with the police. Community justice takes hold. People take matters into their own hands.”

Whatever the reason for it, the rise in homicides has the potential to upend the current political dynamic in American +111% CRIME’S UP! cities. Crime became the central issue of New York City’s mayCrime statistics for January 1 oral race, propelling former police officer Eric Adams toward through May 31, 2021, what appeared at press time to be a victory in the Democratcompared with 2020. ic primary. Adams has called for more policing and defendSOURCE: @LACOSHERIFF ed policies like stop and frisk. L.A. will hold its own mayoral +39% election in November 2022, and observers wonder if former cop Joe Buscaino will similarly benefit from the crime issue. +22% Burglary Robbery +19% Grand +14% Theft Aggravated And then there’s Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who, mindful of Homicides Assault Auto Arson Rape -19% -24% the calls for him to resign, has taken to using the rise in crime These numbers are for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department jurisdiction, which includes as a means of retaining power. He has blamed the rise on “less unincorporated L.A. County and certain cities such as Compton, West Hollywood, and cops, more crooks, less consequences.” His solution? He creMalibu. They do not include crimes from the city of L.A. ated a unit that will process concealed-carry permits faster.

24 L A M AG . C O M

TO P : E VA N S O L A N O

BUZZ

LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT FUELS

GREATNESS TUNE IN TO FUEL-UP WITH: LUKE COUTINHO

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BRYAN SNYDER, RD

Go on a rare behind the scenes tour at state-of-the art Broncos Training Facility, OHG E\ WKH 'LUHFWRU RI 1XWULWLRQ IRU WKH 'HQYHU %URQFRV :LWK SDVW H[SHULHQFH LQ FRQVXOWLQJ PXOWLSOH SUR VSRUWV WHDPV KH UHYHDOV WKH HIIHFWV RI VOHHS GHSULYDWLRQ LQ DWKOHWHV DQG KRZ WR IXHO XS IRU VSHFLÀ F VSRUWV Friday, December 3, 2021 10:00 am PST / 7:00 pm CET 6:00 pm GMT / 11:30 pm IST

DALLAS SEAVEY

,GLWDURG FKDPSLRQ DQG RQH RI RQO\ WZR DWKOHWHV WR ZLQ À YH WLPHV DORQJ ZLWK a team of canine athletes). In a grueling race that braves blizzards, whiteouts and ZLQG FKLOOV DV ORZ DV & 6HDYH\ H[SODLQV ZK\ HYHU\ VHFRQG DQG HYHU\ calorie counts.

Friday, January 7, 2022 10:00 am PST / 7:00 pm CET 6:00 pm GMT / 11:30 pm IST

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JOSH ALLEN

$V RQH RI WKH PRVW H[FLWLQJ SUR 4XDUWHU backs today, this football hero hails from one of the smallest farming towns in &DOLIRUQLD DQG WDNHV XV RQ KLV MRXUQH\ WR WKH SURV %XW KH KDVQ·W FRPSOHWHO\ OHIW the farm, join us as he talks about his new venture in his hometown.

Friday, March 4, 2022 10:00 am PST / 7:00 pm CET 6:00 pm GMT / 11:30 pm IST

Friday Fuel-Up is a monthly Facebook Live series hosted by Dr. Mike Roussell, author and nutrition expert, that welcomes top athletes, adventurers, and thought leaders from around the world for amazing conversations about what fuels their goals mentally and physically.

$OZD\V RQ WKH À UVW )ULGD\ RI HYHU\ PRQWK # DP 367 the show is LIVE at Facebook.com/AmericanPistachios, ZLWK UHFRUGHG HSLVRGHV RQ ,* DQG <RX7XEH DR. MIKE ROUSSELL

08.21

P L AY + E AT + S H O P H E A LT H & B E A U T Y PETS + KIDS

Be

Yes, you can come out now—but where exactly to go? With the pandemic finally receding (fingers crossed) and L.A. back in business, our reporters scoured the city searching out the best of the best—veterinarians and vintage shops, doughnuts and drag bars, toy stores and teeth-whitening—for Los Angeles’s 33rd annual guide to the city’s finest fare EDITED BY HAILEY EBER

PROPS AND STYLED BY AVA JONES PRODUCED BY VILLANI PRODUCTIONS

26 L A M AG . C O M

PHOTOGRAPHED BY RYAN SCHUDE

st of L.A. B E AC H Y K E E N

This year’s Best of L.A. winners include (clockwise from below) baker Hannah Ziskin and her House of Gluten cakes; dog groomer Joshua White and his colorful muse, Snow; and Roam Vintage founder Natasha Zoë Garrett. For more winners—including best painting class, drag show, surf school, and workout—plus reader and expert favorites, turn the page.

R E TO U C H I N G : W E T N O O D L E S ; H A I R A N D M A K E U P : K I R A I S FA N ; M O D E L S : PA I N T E R : PAT T Y PA I N TS O U TS I D E ; R O L L E R B L A D E R : R O B B I E P I T TS ; B U B B L E FA M I LY: J E T T, M E L I N DA , N OVA & AC E P F U TZ E N R E U T E R ; S U R F E R : M I A P F U TZ E N R E U T E R ; M U S C L E B E AC H : C H LO Ë C A R O & O S C A R Y E R U S H A L M I ; D R AG Q U E E N : JAC K I E B E AT; S KAT E R : J E R E M I A H A L A R CO N ; B OY AT B O OT H : O L I V E R S M I T H

P L AY

PLACE TO WATCH THE SUN SET If you keep heading north after Beverly Drive turns into Coldwater, you’ll come upon a street on the left called L AG O V I STA D R I V E . Take it up a couple of winding turns, and you’ll arrive at a ridge overlooking Franklin Canyon.

Step out onto the hillside (yes, it’s public land), sit down on a blanket, and, as the sun descends, take in an amazing view. From this quiet perch, you can see it all: the horizon stretching from Catalina Island to the Getty Center, dusk’s fiery colors reflected in the towers of Century City, the silhouettes of Beverly Hills’s megamansions. No wonder the homes here cost millions. Lago Vista Dr. at Monte Cielo Dr., Beverly Hills.

EXPERT PICK

Skating Venue L.A. Courthouse Skate Plaza

1633 Purdue Ave., Sawtelle

> It was originally a street-skating destination but then got turned into a public skate zone in the last decade. It’s fun, with plenty of flat ground for beginners but lots of obstacles for more advanced skaters looking to explore grinding and jumping. —ROBBIE PITTS, ARTIST AND PROFESSIONAL IN-LINE SKATER

28 L A M AG . C O M

SECRET SWING No, it’s not a playground swing set but rather a sort of community treasure.

Down an unmarked dirt path that leads southwest from the Debs Pond inside E R N E ST E . D E B S R EG I O N A L PA R K , there’s a large swing fashioned from a wooden plank and some rope. It’s a whimsical treat for kids and adults alike, and a romantic adventure for a date (yes, it can hold two adults). Even if you go alone, there’s no feeling like watching your feet soar above downtown and Elysian Park.

Trailhead at 4235 Monterey Rd., Monterey Heights, laparks.org.

COCKTAIL BAR At the height of the pandemic, Matthew Belanger, GM of the unfortunately named D E AT H & CO , reinvented the bar— drawing upon California’s agricultural bounty and distancing it further from the swank watering hole’s New York roots. What emerged was an alreadyimpressive menu coming into its own. The Hanami ($17) showcases fragrant umeshu liqueur along with herbaceous chartreuse and shiso leaf, while the Contrapasso ($17) is an elegant blend of mezcal, vermouth, and rosemary.

If you opt to go off-menu, the bar staff is as knowledgeable as they come, and the plush, dimly lit interiors are a perfect place to relax your inhibitions and delight in the fact that we’re no longer limited to drinking at home. 810 E.

DEATH & CO

3rd St., Arts District, deathandcompany.com.

MUSIC VENUE There are simple pleasures that many concert venues in the city can’t promise, but if you’re anywhere inside the

5, 6, 13, and 14) and Middle Kids (October 13). 1234 W. 7th St., Westlake, teragramballroom.com.

BOWLING ALLEY

T E RAG RA M B A L L R O O M ,

L.A. is full of bowling alleys converted to sleek club-like environs, with craft cocktails and the

you can see without craning your neck, hear without being pressed up against the stage, and get a drink without getting served an unwanted elbow sandwich. Pre-COVID, the atmospheric 650-personcapacity club enjoyed the pick of the rock crop, playing host to everyone from Industrial legend Ministry to Brit-punk upstart IDLES. Later this year, the venue will regain its reputation as one of L.A.’s most reliable, intimate, and fun live-music spots with upcoming shows from Ty Segall (September

price-gouging to match.

But B OW L E R O M A R V I STA —though technically part of the Bowlmor chain—is something else entirely. Situated on a nondescript corner of Venice Boulevard, the place retains the funky charm of the original Mar Vista

I L LU S T R AT I O N BY C H R I S T O P H E R H U G H E S

COURTESY DEATH & CO. AND BOWLERO MAR VISTA; EXPERT PICK: BRANDON SMITH

Best of L.A.

We can’t wait to see you.

Savor stunning art, nature, and views of Los Angeles, with new delights to discover on every visit.

We’re excited to welcome you back to your Getty. Learn about safety measures and make free, timed reservations at getty.edu.

Plan your visit | getty.edu This image was taken before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Masks are required. © 2021 J. Paul Getty Trust

Best of L.A.

P L AY

HOLLYWOOD FOREVER CEMETERY WALKING TOUR

‘IT’ GALLERY

Bowl that was opened here in 1961. Strong drinks flow freely, and arguments over lanes and arcade games are passionate. Prices are a steal: at regular times, it’s $10 per game, plus $6.60 to rent shoes. And on Monday after 7 p.m., it’s $19 for unlimited games, shoes included. The Dude could definitely abide. Bowlero Mar Vista, 12125 Venice Blvd., Mar Vista, bowlero.com.

Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, hamburger marys.com.

DRAG BRUNCH

SURF SCHOOL

Everyone is welcome at WeHo’s H A M B U R G E R M A RY ’ S , the drag queen Disneyland beloved by local leathermen as well as tourists from Dubuque. But brunch is the best time to hit the chain’s WeHo flagship. That’s when you can enjoy bottomless mimosas ($25), a great burger ($14 to $23), and a rotating mix of talented queens from the utterly fabulous (Dani Kay) to the slightly freaky (Shontelle Sparkles).The performers don’t hold back on the blunt comedy, while drag servers provide additional sass. Reservations required. 8288 Santa

If you want to learn to surf in Malibu—and who doesn’t?—hit up Zuma Beach’s M A L I B U M A KOS S U R F C LU B , the only school licensed to teach in the wealthy enclave.

Founded by a lifeguard in 1991, safety has always been a part of Makos’s ethos—its instructors are all CPR- and first-aid-certified. Group lessons (from $75) have a wonderfully low student-teacher ratio, or you can splurge on individual instruction (from $125). Lifeguard Tower #16, 30600 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu, malibumakos.com.

Opened in 2018, N O N A KA- H I L L is a

vision quest through its founders’ experiences growing up in Japan.

You might encounter

HISTORY TOUR

a fascinating exploration of fact and fiction on the grounds of the 122-year-old memorial park where Judy Garland, Cecil B. De Mille, and others are buried.

Guide Karie Bible is a character unto herself: She was born on Halloween, has two different colored eyes, and leads her 2.5-hour tour in a vintage black dress, parasol in hand. (And, yes, that’s her real last name.) But what makes Bible’s tour most unique is her remarkable ability to humanize long-faded icons and cast their scandalous lives in a new light. 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., cemeterytour.com.

anything from mountainous plinths filled with tactile tectonic vessels, paintings that explore the stillness of being deaf, or photographic studies of radioactive mushrooms.

Housed in a strip mall and bearing a dry-cleaning sign, the tiny gallery is a jewel box always filled with surprising treasures. 720 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood.

HOTEL DAY PASS Staycations were so prepandemic. In 2021, it’s all about day passes to hotels across the city, and the best place to travel (not too far) to is T H E

F R O M L A M AG .CO M

Readers’ Picks > The best spots in the city for leisure and culture, according to our online poll

B E AC H

MUSEUM

DIVE BAR

HIKE

Zuma Beach

The Getty Center

HMS Bounty

Temescal Canyon Park

30000 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu

30 L A M AG . C O M

1200 Getty Center Dr., Brentwood, getty.edu

3357 Wilshire Blvd., Koreatown, thehmsbounty.com

15900 Pacific Coast Hwy., Pacific Palisades, laparks.org

DISPENSARY

Med Men

Multiple locations, medmen.com

HISTORY TOUR: ROBERT ZIMIGA; COURTESY NONAKA-HILL;BEACH: ROBYN BECK/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES; MUSEUM: JAMES LEYNSE/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES; DIVE BAR: INSTAGRAM.COM/THEHMSBOUNTY; HIKE: FACEBOOK.COM/TEMESCALCANYONASSOCIATION; DISPENSARY: RICH POLK/GETTY IMAGES FOR MEDMEN ENTERPRISES

The official HOLLYWOOD F O R E V E R C E M E T E RY WA L K I N G TO U R ($25) is

FOLLOW US ANYWHERE

@LosAngelesmag @lamag @LAmag

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8/29/17 11:23 AM

P L AY

EXPERT TESTIMONY

ROOFLESS PAINTERS

W H O L LYWO O D , with

its raucous rooftop pool.

Lounge beneath towering palm trees and take in views of scantily clad influencers, downtown, and the hills. Refreshing slushed cocktails and bite-size bar snacks are added perks.

You can book access to the excess via the Daycation app starting at just $30, and that includes free WiFi if you want to make it your alfresco office for the day.

6250 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, whollywood hotel.com.

PAINTING CLASS Art classes often skew cheesy or intimidating, but R O O F L E SS PA I N T E R S

is neither. Teacher Julio Panisello has a gift for giving helpful instruction to both beginner and advanced students in his mixed-level workshops, which have a max of eight.

The two-hour, pop-up oil painting classes ($50) are held at fun spots around town, suchas Grand 3 2 L A M AG . C O M

Curtain Call

Central Market, Bob Baker Marionette Theater, and rooftops, and include all supplies. rooflesspainters .com.

> After 18 months of Netflix and sad microwave popcorn, there’s nothing more exciting than a night out at the cinema. We asked our film critic to share his favorite L.A. theaters. Which one’s best?

Depends on what you’re looking for.

PSYCHIC

Movie as Social Event While the Universal City AMC has a full bar that allows you to take your drink into the auditorium, and the amenities at the IPIC theatres in Westwood and Pasadena—couches, “privacy walls,” a full bar, and meals—are impressive, THE LANDMARK on Pico wins this category. It not only has upscale snacks but also savvy programming from studio blockbusters to the indie picture that will scoop up next year’s Oscars. 10850 W. Pico Blvd., West L.A., landmarktheatres.com.

Some clairvoyants rely too heavily on the tarot; others dole out advice that’s suspiciously onesize-fits-all. L I LY (known just by her first name) is the rare find who’s guided by something otherworldly.

Her hour-long sessions look forward a year into the future, naming specific events and the months in which they’ll happen with an eerie accuracy that becomes clear once her predictions start to play out. Adding to her first-name-only mystique, she doesn’t allow voice recorders. But she does permit friends to tag along and take notes; good thing, because you’ll want to remember everything she says. 327 Arden Ave., Ste. 105, North Glendale, 818-507-1610.

BY STEVE ERICKSON

Movie as Cinephile Fix Quentin Tarantino’s movie jones is such that he bought the New Beverly—once a porn palace called the Eros—to show off his private collection of vintage pictures as well as his own movies when they premiere. But I still favor THE EGYPTIAN , where I first saw Ben-Hur at age 11 and later returned for Russian director Sergei Bondarchuk’s seven-hour War and Peace, screened by the American Cinematheque for which the theater is home. Right now, it’s undergoing renovations and not set to reopen until 2022, but Cinematheque fare is being screened at the Los Feliz 3 and Santa Monica Aero. Americancinematheque.com.

Movie as Architectural Wow The Dome awaits rescue (perhaps by Jeff Bezos’s untaxed pocket change) in the wake of the April announcement that the Hollywood ArcLight would not reopen. In the meantime, there’s THE TCL CHINESE THEATRE . Its kitschy Far East aesthetic and forecourt of footprints and handprints commissioned by impresario Sid Grauman are still as much a part of the experience as what’s on the screen. 6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, tclchinesetheatres.com.

COURTESY ROOFLESS PAINTERS; LANDMARK: PHOTO BY SPENCER WEINER/LOS ANGELES TIMES VIA GETTY IMAGES

Best of L.A.

ED L I M I TT I N G SEA W

SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

ACT NO

CONCERTS START AT 7:30PM GATES OPEN AT 5:30PM

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN, Principal Pops Conductor

JULY 10 Michael Feinstein, conductor Billy Davis Jr., Marilyn McCoo, Thelma Houston & Spectrum, special guests

Fleetwood Mac A Tribute

JULY 24 Larry Blank, conductor Landslide A Symphonic Tribute to the Music of Fleetwood Mac,

special guests

AUGUST 14 mIcHaEL fEiNsTeIN sInGS

Michael Feinstein, soloist Larry Blank, conductor

AUGUST 28 Larry Blank, conductor Classical Mystery Tour, special guests

SEPTEMBER 11 Michael Feinstein, conductor Liz Callaway & Jordan Donica, soloists

TICKETS START AT $35 PASADENASYMPHONY-POPS.ORG | 626.793.7172

E AT

FISH MARKET

WINGS

Dry-aged fish savant Liwei Liao supplies seafood to top-tier restaurants like Anajak Thai, Rustic Canyon, and Damian, and home cooks can grab his oceanic delights at T H E J O I N T , the valley shop he opened in 2018. Liao ages many of his offerings—from wild Japanese nodoguro (a highly coveted fatty whitefish) to Baja otoro—for a week or more, and the process dramatically intensifies the flavor and improves the texture, just as it does with meat.

There’s also ultrafresh uni from both Hokkaido and Santa Barbara on offer, in addition to prepared foods like smoked Scottish salmon, hand-roll kits, lobster-roll kits, and readyto-roast seafood entrees.

Liao believes that “fresh is boring,” and after one visit to the Joint, you’ll agree.

13718 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, thejointeatery .com.

D I N O ’ S FA M O U S C H I C K E N is an L.A. institu-

EXPERT PICK

Wine Shop

Flask Fine Wine & Whisky

12194 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, flaskfinewines.com

> It’s my local place. If I go in there and say, “I’m looking for this,” they always hook me up with something interesting.

—ELIZABETH BANKS, ACTRESS AND CO-OWNER OF ARCHER ROOSE WINES

3 4 L A M AG . C O M

tion that dates back more than 50 years, but it only started serving chicken wings ($14 dozen) earlier this year. The family-owned restaurant brought in versatile Secret Lasagna chef Royce Burke to develop the new menu item. Double fried and then tossed in a thickened version of Dino’s garlicky, spicy secret sauce, the double-fried wings yield a flavorful punch and a glorious, shattering crackle when you take a bite. If you’re looking for something a little less saucy, you can order butter-cooked wings, which are equally delicious. 2575 W. Pico Blvd., Pico-Union, and other locations, dinosfamouschicken.com.

NEXT GEN POWER BROKER SPOT Since opening in November, G I G I ’ S has quickly become the most coveted seat in town for starlets, Hollywood execs, and TikTok stars. (A bathroom selfie here has become a tonguein-cheek “Look, Ma, I made it!”) But while a reservation is harder to score than a Netflix deal, the service is relaxed, and the menu is full of bistro favorites, from oysters ($24) to steak frites ($54), and classic and inventive cocktails ($17).

Sit outside and soak in the energy of the Hollywood Media District, or grab a velvet booth inside and enjoy the stunning interiors. 904 N. Sycamore Ave., Hollywood, gigis.la.

PASTA TASTING

boutiques. But J O H N K E L LY C H O CO L AT E S

Encino empire-builder Phillip Frankland Lee is a wildly enterprising chef and restaurateur, so naturally he opened a tastingmenu spot in the middle of a pandemic. PASTA B A R serves seasonal 12-pluscourse menus (from $125), headlined by four to five next-level pasta dishes.

Lead chef Nathan Tauer, whose fine-dining bona fides include stints at Coi and Petit Crenn, makes pastas—sunflower agnolotti with duck, cavatelli with lobster and peas— that are among the most smartly composed in the city. The restaurant’s ambitious offerings clearly distinguish it from à la carte pasta counters and casual noodle samplers. Don’t be surprised if your final pasta course is accompanied by a few slices of Wagyu ribeye.

16101 Ventura Blvd., Encino, pastabarencino.com.

takes the top spot, thanks to its sophisticated-but-accessible varieties (oftentimes, a girl just wants a great caramel or elevated peanut butter cup) and culinary ingenuity. The chocolatier’s signature dark chocolate truffle fudge bites (two for $10) are made from a secret recipe that creates an incredibly smooth texture— the sweet spot between fudge and ganache. Plus, the handcrafted treats are massive and satisfying, with most pieces weighing in at almost one ounce. John Kelson and Kelly Green opened their first store inside their Hollywood factory back in 2010, and they’ve just launched a new flagship shop in Beverly Hills’s Golden Triangle. With it, JKC is rightfully poised to become L.A.’s go-to cacao dealer. Locations at johnkellychocolates.com.

HANDCRAFTED CHOCOLATES See’s is a SoCal classic, and esoteric flavors abound at various haute bon bon

CHEESE SHOP More epicurean encyclopedia than mere gourmet market, the C H E E S E STO R E O F B E V E R LY H I L L S sells an unparal-

WINGS: MAX MILLA; EXPERT PICK: MERIE WEISMILLER WALLACE/SMPSP

Best of L.A.

This dinner started here.

The Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove Showroom will help you create a kitchen that’s uniquely yours. On-site chefs, product experts, and inspiring designs will help you envision the possibilities for your home – and all of the delicious moments to come.

SCH E DUL E A S H O W R O O M APPOI NTM ENT 655 Anton Boulevard, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 • 657-269-5874 • subzero-wolf.com /southerncalifornia

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leled selection of offerings from around the world: Vacche Rosse ParmigianoReggiano PDO, pata negra ham from the Iberian Peninsula, Golden Imperial Osetra caviar, 25 varieties of olive oil, and much, much more. Proprietor Norbert Wabnig leverages decades of experience and relationships abroad to source rare curds for both the shop’s customers and chefs from Spago and Jon & Vinny’s, and the Bellagio in Las Vegas. He and his crew happily provide advice on wine pairings or assemble customized gift baskets. Let them show you the whey. 419 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, cheesestorebh.com.

DOUGHNUTS Even when compared to excellent local titans like Sidecar, DK’s, and the Donut Man, OUI MELROSE stands out with made-from-scratch doughnuts that taste like fancy pastries while satisfying nostalgic cravings. Chef Armen Piskoulian’s vanillaglazed doughnuts ($3.50) are simply perfect: soft and airy but substantial, with

a nice chewiness and just the right amount of mellow sweetness. They’re also wonderfully fresh: Piskoulian makes doughnuts in the morning and the afternoon because he correctly believes that they should be an all-day indulgence.

Oui also excels at specialty flavors such as birthdaycake buttermilk bars and Boston-cream, strawberryshortcake, and guava doughnuts. 6909 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, @oui_melrose.

FOOD HALL Few dining destinations in the city hold as much history as G RA N D C E N T RA L M A R K E T . The 40-stall food mecca has been a downtown staple for over a century. Eclecticism is key to its enduring success, as is a lively crosssection of old and new L.A. Unctuous vegan broths are ladled out at Ramen Hood, adjacent to plump links of German-inspired sausage at Berlin Currywurst. Savor the spicy Filipino fare of Sari Sari Store while contemplating a bite of sustainably sourced shellfish

from the Oyster Gourmet.

Shiku is the latest crowdpleaser, conveniently formatting Korean comfort staples for those on the go.

And cultural expression here extends far beyond the culinary space. The market now features a bazaar highlighting local independent artists and rooftop comedy showcasing top talent against the evening skyline. 317 S. Broadway, downtown, grandcentralmarket.com.

only dense, leaden treats, Yee achieves a miracle. Using dairy-free Fababutter, which is made with coconut oil and aquafaba (the liquid from canned chickpeas), she’s baking flaky creations with textbook soft, layered, “honeycomb” centers. They are in a category all their own. 727 N. Broadway, Chinatown, @bakers.bench.

VEGAN CROISSANTS

At N E E D L E , their tiny spot near Sunset Junction, Ryan and Karen Wong balance familiar Cantonese dishes with exciting new iterations of the beloved cuisine. Their pork-chop bun ($13) and eight-spice youtiao (Chinese doughnuts, $5) are testaments to their innovation, while an elevated shrimp-and-egg dish ($16) is a pristinely sourced classic. The recently launched Dinner at Needle—an ambitious banquet menu including lobster and snow crab and served on the patio—is a great reason to eat out again. 3827 W. Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake, needlela.com.

Pastry chef Jennifer Yee worked for years in celebrated kitchens like Bouchon Bakery, the French Laundry, and, most recently, at Echo Park’s Konbi, where her buttery chocolate croissants created a sensation. Now Yee is baking up sublime French pastries that just happen to be vegan—no easy feat.

Every Friday and Saturday morning since May, she’s been selling plant-based chocolate cookies, muffins, and, most notably, croissants ($5 each), via her B A K E R ’ S B E N C H pop-up at Far East Plaza. While most bakers eschewing butter manage

NEW-SCHOOL CHINESE

F R O M L A M AG .CO M

Readers’ Picks

PIZZA

COFFEE

TA C O S

SUSHI

ICE CREAM

Prime Pizza

Go Get Em Tiger

Sonoratown

Sugarfish

Salt & Straw

Multiple locations at primepizza.la

Multiple locations at gget.com

208 E. 8th St., downtown, sonoratown.com

Multiple locations at sugarfishsushi.com

Multiple locations at saltandstraw.com

36 L A M AG . C O M

COURTESY OF BRANDS; SUSHI: FRIED CHICKEN STUDIOS

> Here’s the scoop: our online poll crowned these the top spots for essential treats, from pizza to ice cream

POPULARITY CONTEST

OLD-SCHOOL CHINESE N E W H AOJ I N G just

opened earlier this year—and has “new” in its name—but its wideranging menu of Hong Kong–style dishes is all about traditional favorites done really well. The thrills sneak up quietly as servers bring out plates piled with fried pork chops tossed in spicy salt ($13), mincedchicken-and-salted-fish fried rice ($12), and mushrooms tossed with crispcoated “Japanese egg tofu” ($14). With more than 200 dishes on offer, it’s the sort of place you want to return to again and again. 500 W. Valley Blvd., Alhambra, newhaojing.com.

COURTESY OF GOLDBELLY.COM SELLERS

FRIED CHICKEN SANDWICH L.A. has no shortage of crispy poultry sammies, but DAY B I R D flies the highest. The strip-mall spot from Top Chef winner Mei Lin finally opened in March, and it was worth the wait. A hulking, flattened chicken thigh is brined in buttermilk for 12 hours, then dredged in a blend of flour, Sichuan peppercorns, cumin, star anise, fennel, mushroom powder, and cinnamon, and twice fried in rice bran oil.

Stuffed in a Martin’s potato roll and topped with a bright, chile-laced slaw, it’s a perfectly balanced, craveworthy sandwich ($13.50).

Half of the thigh sticks out from the bun, the better for dippping in Lin’s excellent sauce options. 240 N. Virgil Ave., Ste. 5, Westlake, daybirdla.com.

FOOD TRUCK Options for tasty comfort fare on wheels abound, but Y E SS AQ UAT I C is on another level. Chef Junya Yamasaki, who made a name for himself in London’s avant garde circles, is serving up impeccably sourced, inventive seafood dishes from a cheery orange-and-blue truck. A ridgeback prawn sandwich ($14) featuring notably tender shrimp and banh mi fixings, thrills. The ever-changing menu is full of exciting options— Nashville-style fried shark sandwich, anyone?—depending on the fresh catch. Yamasaki and Yess owner Kino Kaetsu have plans to open two brickand-mortar spots in the fall, but, rest assured, the food truck will also keep on truckin’. 2001 E. 7th St., Arts District, yessaquatic. com.

DIRTY RICE With diced hot links, chicken andouille sausage, and ground sirloin, alongside onions and bell peppers that magically retain a crisp texture, the Cajun rice dish at ORLEANS & YORK DELI is a masterpiece.

Eating it in Los Angeles, a city where good Cajun food can be hard to find, is transporting. It’s a perfect side dish to fried oysters at Sami Othman’s dazzling delis in South L.A. and beyond. But it also works wonderfully as a main course. Order liberally—the flavor-packed dish tastes great the next day. Various locations at orleansandyorkdeli.com.

Goldbelly Medalists > Since launching in 2013, Goldbelly has built a thriving business that enables customers to order favorite food items from around the country via express delivery with UPS or FedEx and, often, a lot of dry ice. The e-commerce platform did particularly well during the pandemic—it recently raised $100 million in funding and saw sales quadruple over the past year. More than 300 Los Angeles-area restaurants are on Goldbelly. Here are the most popular ones, according to company data.

Ms. Chi > Shirley Chung was a runner-up and fan favorite on season 14 of Top Chef, and her dumpling-focused cafe ships menu items like cheeseburger pot stickers and Chinese tea-smoked whole duck across the country.

3829 Main St., Culver City, mschicafe.com.

Bludso’s Bar & Que > Kevin Bludso first started serving Texasstyle barbecue out of a small takeout stand in Compton in 2008. He’s now a TV personality, and his brisket and ribs are available at a flagship Hollywood location and various smaller outposts in L.A. and Melbourne, Australia, and via Goldbelly. 609 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood, barandque.com.

Langer’s Delicatessen > It’s been an L.A. institution since 1947, but people across the country get the Jewish deli’s classics delivered—like the No. 19 sandwich with pastrami, cole slaw, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing. 704 S. Alvarado St., Westlake, langersdeli.com.

Burritos La Palma > The Bañuelos-Lugo family opened their first location in El Monte in 1980. In the decades since, the clan’s Zacatecan-style burritos—relatively small in size and filled with richly flavorful, stewed meats—have gained wide critical acclaim and been featured on numerous TV shows. Multiple locations, burritoslapalma.com.

Philippe the Original > This classic downtown spot claims to have invented the French dip sandwich in 1918 when owner Philippe Mathieu accidentally dropped a sliced roll in a pan filled with hot meat drippings. Its rival, Cole’s, disputes this origin story, but only Philippe’s meaty sammies are available on Goldbelly. 1001 N. Alameda St., downtown, philippes.com.

Milk > The best-selling L.A. treats on Goldbelly hail from this bakeshop known for colorful creations like blue velvet blueberry layer cake and macaron ice-cream sandwiches. 7290 Beverly Blvd., Fairfax District, and 1639 Silver Lake Blvd., Silver Lake, themilkshop.com.

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Best of L.A.

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Cakes > Baking wizard Hannah Ziskin was M. Georgina’s pastry chef when the pandemic hit. After that downtown restaurant went dark, she started baking sensational cakes from her Glendale home under the name House of Gluten. Her creations are unique, relying on ultraseasonal fruits, delicate flowers, and thoughtful flavor combinations. Carrot cake is taken to new heights with kumquats and a salty pecan caramel. Black Forest cake is reinterpreted—and improved—with olive oil, a cracked-pepper chiffon, and a mascarpone mousse.

Ziskin’s Instagram account is always filled with irresistible creations ($5-$100), and she’s also making the desserts for the Eastside pop-up Quarter Sheets Pizza.

Order up. @hannahziskin, houseofgluten@gmail.com.

PH O T O G R A PH BY RYA N S C H U D E

38 L A M AG . C O M

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SOFA SUPPLIER Long before the pandemic had desperate DIYers waiting months for their West Elm couches, T H E J O N E S E S L A was supplying both local designers and savvy civilians with sofas, settees, and sectionals. Open since 2013, the family-owned company, which has a manufacturing facility in Canoga Park, was the first in California to ban chemical fire retardant on all upholstery.

Today, its easy-to-miss Beverly Hills showroom beats big-box stores in terms of

EXPERT PICK

High-End Vintage The Way We Wore

334 S. La Brea Ave., Hancock Park, thewaywewore.com

> The’ve got really amazing pieces from all sorts of eras, from designer Victorian pieces to YSL and Yohji Yamamoto. I was just shopping for Margot Robbie [for the new David O. Russell movie] there, and fashion designers also love it. I’ve run into Michael Kors there.

—J. R. HAWBAKER, FILM AND TV COSTUME DESIGNER

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variety, quality, and pricing. Thirty-plus frame styles, available to view in-store, include entry-level loungers like the Fairfax ($1,595), a 78-inch threeseater with tuxedo arms and tufted back cushions, and the Berliner Playpen ($7,500), a glamorous sectional with gently curved arms. All seating is made with customizable fabrics and finishes, and despite a global foam shortage, the Joneses is still delivering the goods within six to eight weeks—not months, as is the case with many of its corporate competitors.

227 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills, thejoneses la.com.

HOME GOODS Owned by globe-trotting textiles guru Joanna Williams, who divides her time between Echo Park and her hometown of Mexico City, K N E E L A N D M E R C A D O is full of rare wonders. Williams, who consults for the likes of Dries Van Noten, Chloé, and Dôen, stocks her intimate boutique with treasures such as glazed Turkish terra-cotta jugs ($175 to $300), lavishly embroidered Egyptian linens (Malaika guest towels, $75 a pair), Venetian blownglass vases ($295 to $695), antique lacework (Italian tablecloth, $450), and Mexican wicker lampshades ($600), all meticulously sourced. It’s a true destination shop that at once reflects and draws on L.A.’s unique energy while pushing the city’s design sensibility forward. 4767 Adams Blvd., Mid City, kneeland.com.

FABIANA PIGNA

TENNIS SHOP In the game for nearly nine decades, W E ST WO O D S P O R T I N G G O O DS is a one-stop, wonderfully oldschool shop for all things tennis. Pick up a new racket for a trial run, grab apparel from top brands, or get a beloved racket restrung by the expert staff, who also ready the gear for the UCLA tournament and pros. Over the years, greats like Serena and Venus Williams and Pete Sampras have shopped there, and Arthur Ashe even worked there in his youth. Game on. 1065 Gayley Ave., Westwood Village, 310-208-1615.

and tiaras available for purchase, but the real treasures are to be found among the large section of barely worn clothing from the sets of The Good Wife, Mission: Impossible movies, and more. Sport coats and suits—from labels such as Armani, Hugo Boss, John Varvatos, and Banana Republic—are plentiful, well-organized, and priced at roughly 75 percent off.

If you have to return to the office, you might as well look good—without spending a fortune. 3315 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, itsawrap hollywood.com.

DISCOUNT SUITS

WOMEN’S WORK CLOTHES

A unique secondhand shop and Burbank institution since the ’80s, I T ’ S A W RA P gets its merchandise straight from the studios. There are props

A favorite of highbrow fashion influencers like British impresario Brittany Bathgate, FA B I A N A P I G N A is a meticulously crafted, aesthetically rarefied label made

SOFA: TREY PRIDE; FABIANA PIGNA: PALEY FAIRMAN; EXPERT PICK: COURTESY OF J. R. HAWBAKER

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GET TOGETHER GRAB DINNER LOCAL ART SUNNY DAYS STYLISH FINDS TASTY TREATS LUNCH LINGERIE

@FIGAT7TH DOWNTOWNLA FIGAT7TH.COM

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in downtown L.A. Pigna, a Venezuelan now based in Eagle Rock, focuses on sculptural silhouettes in workhorse fabrics like Japanese cottons and Belgian gingham and a buildable palette of whites, neutrals, black, and navy. Everything’s washable and durable, equally suited for long days of meetings, gallery openings, and last-minute cocktail parties (remember those?). The high-waisted Vera trousers ($285) are sewn from surprisingly soft Japanese nylon that not only resists wrinkles but also wipes clean should you spill salsa on your lap over dinner with friends at Salazar. The forthcoming fall collection features chic cupro dresses ($595 to $610) in velvety colors, thanks to a collaboration with a local dyehouse. If you’re going to abandon the leggings-and-Crocs life, these are the clothes to do it with.

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Available at fabianapigna .com and select boutiques, including Salt, 1114 Abbott Kinney Blvd., Venice.

BARGAIN SHOPPING If you’re looking for deals, downtown’s SANTEE ALLEY is hard to beat. The outdoor flea market is open daily and has some 150 vendors hawking electronics; luggage; shoes; handbags; men’s, women’s, and kid’s clothing; and more.

Sure, some of the wares are knockoffs and most items aren’t made to last, but if you’re looking for cheap and cheerful trendy updates, this is a great source.

Wear comfortable shoes, and come ready to haggle.

210 E. Olympic Blvd., Fashion District.

PLUS-SIZE VINTAGE Five years ago, fashion designer Jen Wilder and film producer Marcy

Guevara-Prete launched the PLUS BUS , a plus-size consignment shop in a small Glassell Park space. Thrift shopping is often anything but size-inclusive, so women flocked to the one-of-akind shop. It’s since moved to buzzy York Avenue in Highland Park and become an Eastside fashion destination for those looking for everything from gently used red-carpet gowns and Maria Cornejo separates to new pieces from Wilder’s recently released line, You’re Too Much. You might even score something from Lizzo—a fan of the store, who donates her clothing—and look, dare we say, good as hell. 5031½ York Blvd., Highland Park, theplus-bus.com.

and an ingenious grasp of contemporary construction to every project he touches, from the industrial verve of Color Camp’s Fairfax manicure bar to a Los Feliz guesthouse conceived as a futuristic fort. His concrete stools ($650 to $850) have become an unlikely obsession for in-the-know design fiends. Pigment-infused in chalky pastel tones and reinforced with glass-fiber for buoyancy, they’re poured into soft, sculptural shapes with brutalist heft equally suitable indoors or out.

Are they best used as seats, tables, or footrests? The choice is yours. Available at Plant Materials, 3350 Eagle Rock Blvd., Glassell Park.

DESIGN OBJECT

Weddings are a mix of fantasy and harsh reality (often in the form of drunken relatives). When it comes to dress shopping, C L A I R E P E T T I B O N E offers up the former in spades, with a 4,700-square-foot, chandelier-bedecked gothic atelier housed in the landmarked Heinsbergen Decorating Company. Brides-tobe can sip champagne while browsing Pettibone’s ethereal, romantic-but-unfussy Chantilly lace gowns, a favorite of celebs such as Cameron Diaz and Elizabeth Moss. Priscilla Chan wore a Pettibone dress when she wed Mark Zuckerberg in 2012. Even if you don’t have Facebook cash, the gowns aren’t out of reach. Pettibone has three lines at various price points from $2,500 to $35,000. She also sells beautiful lingerie and bridal separates. 7415 Beverly Blvd., Fairfax District, claire pettibone.com

Trained at Harvard and Pratt, Los Angeles architectdesigner JEROME BYRON brings a playful sensibility

BRIDAL SALON

PLUS BUS: CASSIA DEMAYO

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Insta Vintage >After a decade in the fashion industry as a stylist for brands like American Express and J.Crew, Natasha Zoe Garrett struck out on her own in 2018 with Roam Vintage, an Instagram-centric shop. Every Wednesday, Garrett showcases her finds on the social media platform, then takes orders via email. Her sensibility reflects her bohemian childhood spent in the Bay Area and New Mexico, and her intention is to source pieces you can wear for a lifetime or pass down: think worn-soft ’70s blouses ($62 to $78), overdyed Czech military liner jackets ($180), and Oaxacan nightgowns ($195), alongside highly curated home goods. Her weekly online offerings have garnered such a loyal following that she’s now opening her own brick-and-mortar shop on Jefferson Boulevard in West Adams, where she plans to offer appointment-only shopping alongside ongoing art events open to the public. @roam-vintage, roamvintage.com.

P H O T O G R A P H BY RYA N S C H U D E

Best of L.A.

RETRO T-SHIRTS There hasn’t been a Licorice Pizza record shop for over 30 years, but T-shirts bearing the name of the store are selling out at the VALLEY RELICS MUSEUM , where they share shelf space with tees from Pioneer Chicken, the Palomino Club, and other long-gone L.A. hangouts. The nostalgic garb (from $17) comes via Tommy Gelinas, who founded the museum in 2013 and also makes official band merch. On August 18 (aka 818 Day, an important holiday in the Valley), he’ll offer a 20 percent discount. 7900 Balboa Blvd., Van Nuys, valley relicsmuseum.org.

SHOPPING MALL After a $1 billion, twoyear renovation, Westfield debuted its revamped C E N T U RY C I T Y M A L L in 2017. Leave the Grove to the tourists. This is a 400,000-square-foot wonderland for serious openair shopping, with Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Tiffany, and Peloton, plus beautiful gardens and outdoor furniture design by Kelly Wearstler. Nearly a quarter of the space is devoted to food retail, with L.A.’s only Eataly offering up delicacies you can’t get anywhere else. 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., 310-2773898, westfield.com.

COURTESY ETSY.COM SELLERS

BIKE SHOP With 11,000 square feet of space, H E L E N ’ S CYC L E S is the largest cycling shop in the city—and it’s also the best. Whether you’re looking

to drop a four-digit sum on a Pinarello or get a shiny cruiser for under $400, Helen’s staff of expert enthusiasts will get you fitted and make thoughtful recommendations for accessories. An able, fairly priced, repair department offers four levels of tune-ups ($60 to $275). 2501 Broadway, Santa Monica, helenscycles.com.

ADULT STORE Not all sex shops feel welcoming, but C U P I D ’ S C LOS E T encourages lingering, with its bright Apple store-like aesthetic and a staff of certified sex educators. And there’s lots of good stuff to browse, including a curated selection of top-shelf toys like the Womanizer Premium, along with lingerie, lube, and leather. First opened in 2013 in Westchester, the shop expanded to Brentwood in 2020 with an airy, 2,500-plus-square-foot emporium. 12201 Wilshire Blvd., Brentwood, and 8340 Lincoln Blvd., Westchester, cupidscloset.com.

SPECIALTY BOOKSTORE The only shop on the West Coast dedicated to romance novels, T H E R I P P E D B O D I C E is a unique literary haven for lovers of the genre—both Jane Austen traditionalists as well as fans of contemporary romance. There’s even an expansive gay and lesbian romance section located near the front of the store. “We want people to find it without needing to ask,” says Leah Koch, who owns the store with her sis-

ter, Bea, and goes to great lengths to stock a diverse array of writers. 3806 Main St., Culver City, therippedbodicela.com.

NURSERY Long before indoor plants became Instagram stars, R O L L I N G G R E E N S was selling greenery from a magical two-acre plot on a hidden hillside in Culver City. Two decades later, the nursery has three loca-

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tions, with a fourth in Studio City on the way. The sprawling grounds mean plant lovers can delve far beyond trending species into lesser-known flora.

The selection of containers is equally extensive. At its “arrangement bars,” inhouse designers will customize verdant still lifes in containers you buy onsite—or favorites you bring from home. Multiple locations at rghomeandgarden .com.

POPULARITY CONTEST

The Best of Etsy > Angelenos are a crafty bunch. Here, the most popular local sellers on the e-commerce platform, according to Etsy data.

Holly Fox Design > Holly Fox, a graphic designer who loves to bake, makes cookie-cutters in beyond-basic shapes, such as syringes, mod houses, strapless bikinis, jellyfish, and palm leaves. @hol_fox.

Claylicious > These handcrafted ceramics—from serving platters to dog bowls—are by Eshkar Butbul, an Israeli potter and mom living in Calabasas. @claylicious_.

Hereafter L.A. > A team of seven based in Torrance and headed by Yvonne Leung makes laserengraved wood keepsake boxes and other personalized tchotchkes. Leung previously worked in finance, but her Etsy store has been a full-time gig since 2012, enabling her to surf more and live part-time in Oaxaca. @hereafter.la.

The Little Avocado Pasadena artist Megan Massey has garnered acclaim from Refinery29 and various celebs with her vibrant throws and colorful modern macramé wall hangings. @TheLittleAvocadoShop.

L A M AG . C O M 45

HOLISTIC MEDICINE

APOTHECARY Whether you’re looking for a custom tincture or want to switch to a more eco-conscious laundry detergent, W I L D T E R RA can help. Pop in for a Mayan loofah ($3.75) or stay a while for in-depth conversation with founder and herbalist Danielle Noe on the intricacies of the endocrine

46 L A M AG . C O M

FACILE

system and the antispasmodic properties of black haw bark ($4.50 an ounce).

Who knew ashwagandha root ($2.50 an ounce) steeped in milk would be such a delight? Noe did.

5858 Figueroa St., Highland Park, wildterra.la.

MAKEUP Since its 2004 launch, Venice-based H O U R G L ASS COS M E T I C S has continuously updated its products while remaining true to founder Carisa Janes’s cruelty-free ethos. Its makeup leaves you feeling good and looking great—no small feat in a world of virtuous cosmetics that don’t quite get either job done.

The line’s Unlocked Instant Extensions mascara ($29) is the best around, while the Immaculate Liquid Powder foundation, is a non-drying, just-enoughcoverage miracle that gives a polished look for hours. Multiple locations, hourglasscosmetics.com.

BATH PRODUCTS

TEETH WHITENING

F L A M I N G O E STAT E ’s body washes, soaps, candles, and oils are uniquely steeped in pleasure. The company is headquartered in a 1940’s Eagle Rock compound formerly owned by a pair of artists who filmed avant-garde porn on the grounds. Ingredients for its botanical bath products are sourced from the estate’s orchard and gardens, making for formulations that have a local tie but also feel a touch exotic. The Royal Jasmine body oil ($52) is at once earthy and lush, while the Invigorating body wash ($40), has antimicrobial properties and de-stressing potential, thanks to various herbs.

Packaged in beautiful amber-glass bottles, they feel like luxe splurges, but after the past year, you deserve them. Available at Mohawk General Store, 4011 Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake, or flamingoestate.com.

Founded by cosmetic dentist Edwin Hakimian in 2019, B R I T E B A R offers three levels of whitening at locations in Calabasas, Santa Monica, and WeHo. Ranging from $99 to $199, treatments cost a fraction of what you might pay at the dentist or spa, and the office emphasizes safety, with a proprietary gel that uses a lower percentage of hydrogen peroxide than many home kits. But the process is also highly effective in just one session, thanks to the use of LED light. All clients leave with a treatment pen to keep their smiles shining, and results typically last three to six months. thebritebar. com.

AFFORDABLE MASSAGE If your body is in need of a tune-up, truck it to T H E M ASSAG E G A RAG E . For nearly two decades, owner

APOTHECARY: COURTESY WILD TERRA; FACILE: SAM FROST

For more than a decade, prominent fertility specialists and orthopedic surgeons have been referring their patients to D R . J E I RA N L AS H A I , an Eastern medicine practitioner with an uncanny ability to alleviate pain (new-patient appointment, $195; existing-patient appointment, $95). With a doctorate in acupuncture and Oriental medicine, LaShai has an unusual depth of expertise, whether she’s addressing back tension with tui na and cupping or applying her vast needling acumen, which newly encompasses cosmetic procedures like acupuncture facelifts ($350 a session). No wonder her waiting room is usually filled with an eclectic mix of erudite A-listers, from indie musicians to top screenwriters. 4443 Sunset Dr., Silver Lake, blog.jeiranlashai.com.

Best of L.A.

Lauren Cresto has made a point of keeping her prices reasonable ($90 for a 90-minute deep-tissue overhaul) while also maintaining a staff of highly skilled therapists, many of whom have worked at the Garage for years. Eight treatment rooms make scoring an appointment easy, and the welcoming lobby features a mix of modern decor and kitschy car references that set a lighthearted tone. 3812 Main St., Culver City, themassagegarage.com.

CHIARA FERRAGNI: PHOTO BY JEFFREY MAYER/WIREIMAGE; LASH LIFT: COURTESY I LASH HAUS; EXPERT PICK: PHOTO COURTESY DAVID PETRUSCHIN

NAIL ART The Russian manicure— a technique in which an electronic file is used to remove excess skin around the nail bed—is invasive and controversial, but there’s no question that it achieves a uniquely smooth canvas. Only a handful of manicurists are trained in the technique, and among them Russia native Lisa Kon has established herself as the go-to gal for celebs like Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber. With its own line of polishes and nail-art supplies, her L I SA KO N L A B is the place for nextlevel nails whether you’re looking for a subtle French manicure (from $100), blinged-out talons with ombre elements, zebrainspired designs, or threedimensional effects ($1-$20 per nail). 4444 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.

a Beverly Hills studio with superstar hairstylist Adam Campbell. They’re keeping the address a secret but insist it’s welcoming both to mere mortals and bigname clients like Angelina Jolie and Italian Instagram star Chiara Ferragni (below). The warm, charming Rez can take clients from brown to blond in a single session, and he applies highlights with such skill— using a mix of foils and balayage—that they look great as they grow out.

Base color from $175; partial highlights from $475; full highlights from $575.

Call or text 424-245-9702.

FACIALS Are your skin-care dollars better spent at the spa or the dermatologist’s office? At FAC I L E , you get the best of both worlds.

Chic interiors with online booking and transparent pricing make for a spa-like experience, but there’s a noted dermatologist— Nancy Samolitis—at the helm. First-timers get a consultation with a nurse practitioner, and there are medical-grade treatment

COLORIST Matt Rez, former dye-job dynamo at celeb magnet M ÈC H E SA LO N , has gone out on his own, setting up

CHIARA FERRAGNI

H E A LT H & B E A U T Y

options. Pricing is fairly reasonable, with facials from $170, lasers from $350, and fillers starting at $650. Plus, it’s one of the only places in L.A. to offer CO2 laser-assisted serum delivery ($750), which brightens skin and stimulates collagen production with little to no recovery time. 8457 Melrose Pl., West Hollywood, and 140 S. Lake Ave., Ste. 104, Pasadena, facileskin.com.

LASH LIFT Forget high-maintenance extensions. The enhancement of the moment is the lash lift, in which lashes are curled around a silicon rod and chemically set, producing a natural-

EXPERT PICK

Beauty Store

Nigel Beauty Emporium

11252 W. Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, nigelbeauty.com

> They have everything you can think of to get your look together. And the staff is amazing. One of my favorite products there is Terry Hyaluronic Hydropowder, a very fine powder that sets your foundation without the fear of settling into fine lines. It’s amazing.

—DAVID “RAVEN” PETRUSCHIN, MAKEUP ARTIST AND RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE FAN FAVORITE

WORKOUT Getting ripped in just 20 minutes a week sounds like a delusional gimmick, but T H E ST R E N GT H S H O P P E

looking curl for several weeks or even months. At I L AS H H AU S in Glendale, Tanya Mendez does a luxe version of the treatment, using Yumi Keratin ($150), a unique formula that strengthens and conditions lashes in addition to curling them. Mendez is one of the few aestheticians in the area using InLei Keratin ($95), an Italian option that thickens lashes and can last up to seven months. 127 S. Brand Blvd., Ste. 320, ilashhaus.com.

truly works. Trainer Melinda Hughes helps clients from age 12 to 92—many of them entertainment industry jet-setters—get toned with sessions that are shorter than a network sitcom, using maximum weight resistance, a slow cadence, and attention to form. “The science is there,” says Hughes, who was skeptical herself when she first opened the studio a decade ago. “Physiologically speaking, your body only needs to go into what we affectionately call ‘muscle failure’ once a week to achieve a stimulus that gets results.” 305 Glendale Blvd., Echo Park, and 350 South Lake Ave., Pasadena, thestrengthshoppe.com.

L A M AG . C O M 47

KIDS

MUSIC CLASS In a city filled with amazing kiddie jam sessions, W H AT A B A B E ! stands out with convenient smallgroup classes (from $130 per child for four weeks) held in your own backyard.

Highly engaging instructors bring an orchestra of instruments and props, and there’s a different theme each week, from transportation (think Prince’s “Little Red Corvette”) to Hawaii (Aloha, Moana!). 14342 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, whatababe.com.

COOKING CLASS The G O U R M A N D I S E S C H O O L O F SW E E TS & SAVO R I E S isn’t adults-

EXPERT PICK

Outdoor Excursion Annenberg Beach House 415 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica, annenberg beachhouse.com

> We love it on hot summer days when you can’t decide between the beach or pool. With toddlers and small kids, a day at the beach can seem daunting—you feel like you’re packing for a two-week vacation—but Annenberg has it all there for you: splash pad, food, easily accessible restrooms, and a play area.

—PARENT-COACH KRISTIN GALLANT AND CHILD THERAPIST DEENA MARGOLIN, THE NATIVE ANGELENOS BEHIND THE POPULAR INSTAGRAM @BIGLITTLEFEELINGS

4 8 L A M AG . C O M

only—it also offers serious instruction for kids and teens. Recent guest teachers have included KCRW’s Evan Kleiman and alums of Border Grill and the late Patina. Classes cover mise en place, knife skills, plating, busing, and keeping your station in order—the better to ensure young chefs don’t create a threecourse mess at home. 395 Santa Monica Pl., Ste. 323, Santa Monica, thegour mandiseschool.com.

TOY STORE Whatever the children in your life might desire— from cheap and cheerful Pop Cutie necklaces ($14) to hand-painted Belgian goose lamps ($155)— chances are they’re waiting on a rustic shelf at M E R C I M I LO . The charming, barn-like shop is perfectly curated and stocked with unique items you can’t just order up on Amazon. 6017 Echo St., Highland Park, shopmercimilo.com.

PLAYGROUND Ahoy, munchkins! Brookside Park’s R E E S E ’ S R E T R E AT features a massive pirate-ship structure on a half acre. Kids can ring bells from the mast, “fire” cannons, and “steer” the vessel. If anyone goes overboard, thick rubber flooring cushions the blow and, along with ramps, makes the play area accessible to those in wheelchairs or strollers. Adding to the fun, the wonderful Kidspace Museum is just a pleasant fiveminute walk away. 360 N. Arroyo Blvd., Pasadena, cityofpasadena.net.

THE GOURMANDISE SCHOOL

BOTANICAL GARDEN The Huntington gets a lot of love, but D E S C A N S O G A R D E N S distinguished itself as a verdant MVP after it stayed open throughout most of the pandemic.

On the uniquely childfriendly 150-acre grounds, children can frolic around a koi-filled stream, chase squirrels, collect sticks, and follow coyote tracks without attracting sideways glances. And when the city is sweltering, the glens of coast live oaks, redwoods, cherry trees, ginkgos, azaleas, and camellias stay cool, which means fewer meltdowns for all visitors.

1418 Descanso Dr., La Cañada Flintridge, descanso gardens.org.

KIDS’ RESALE STORE For more than a decade, the G R E E N B E A N has eased the pain of how quickly kids outgrow their stuff. The friendly spot

buys and sells quality, lightly worn, brand-name children’s clothes—from Native shoes to Petit Bateau rompers—as well as toys and books.

It also stocks new playthings from reputable companies like Hape. If you’re getting rid of stuff, the shop will price your items and give you a 40 percent in-store credit.

Everyone wins. 5060 Eagle Rock Blvd., Eagle Rock, the-green-bean-kid-shop. myshopify.com.

CHILDREN’S DESIGNER DUDS For tykes, tweens, and teens looking for high style, it’s hard to beat S U N S E T K I DS . The quaint shop carries local designers and big names like Paul Smith and Kenzo and has such a great selection of rock ’n’ roll Tshirts that Westside moms often shop for themselves.

8671 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, sunsetplaza.com.

COOKING CLASS: BERANGERE CHUNG; EXPERT PICK: ALEX MORRIS DESIGN

Best of L.A.

PROMOTION

TOP CHEF BRINGS GOOD TASTE TO CITY OF HOPE

Chef Christian Eggerling, City of Hope’s director of culinary operations

By Abe Rosenberg

(U HZZVY[TLU[ VM YLJPWLZ prepared during City of Hope’s biweekly Savoring Hope cooking classes

Maestro in the kitchen, guru of all things healthful and organic, a culinary prodigy and the 13th chef in his family, Christian Eggerling became a sous chef at age 18 and an L_LJ\[P]L JOLM H[ /L»K IL H WYPTL OPYPUN [HYNL[ MVY [OL poshest restaurants, the most prestigious hotels or any -VY[\UL JVTWHU`

So, what is Chef Christian doing at City of Hope?

“If you’d asked me when I was 25 or 30 and working in 5-star establishments if I’d ever work in a hospital,” he says, “I’d have said, well, that’s when I retire!”

When Eggerling came to City of Hope in 2017, he was confronted with the challenge of how to get the most nutritious meals to cancer patients at a time when they may not feel like eating or have digestive issues as ZPKL Lќ LJ[Z VM [YLH[TLU[

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Left to right: Nutritious and filling, chicken tortilla soup with lean protein; an energizing herb risotto with rosemary, thyme and basil

To learn more about our Hilton Foundation Partnership and other community programs, visit us at CityofHope.org/Hilton-partnership.

Best of L.A.

PETS

EXPERT PICK

Bird Store

Omar’s Exotic Birds Multiple locations at omarsexoticbirds.com

> It’s the ultimate birdshop experience. The birds are well-socialized and out of their cages, hanging out on circular perches. They’re excited to hop onto your arm.

The staff are knowledgeable and have relationships with each bird.

CRUMBS & WHISKERS

DOG WALK On the fourth Sunday of every month, the S O U T H COAST B OTA N I C G A R D E N opens most of

its lush, 87-acre grounds to on-leash dog walking, allowing for some thrilling new sights and sounds for Fido. Explore the mammoth Moreton Bay fig trees in the banyan grove or wander through the shady fuchsia garden with your best friend. No wonder the dog days often sell out and require advance tickets ($15 for humans, $5 for dogs).

Pamper your pooch further by arranging for a bespoke picnic with both people food and puppy treats, along with blankets (from $325 for humans, $25 for dogs).

26300 Crenshaw Blvd., Palos Verdes Peninsula, south coastbotanicgarden.org.

VETERINARY CARE Concierge medicine isn’t just for humans. Veterinary 50 L A M AG . C O M

start-up M O D E R N A N I M A L launched in 2020 with a fresh business model: for an annual fee of $100 per pet, members get access to 24/7 virtual care and unlimited clinic visits— perfect for neurotic puppy parents. Appointments can be made and records can be accessed via a slick app, and the prices for various procedures and medications are listed on the website. The West Hollywood clinic has been a hit, and locations in Pasadena, Studio City, and Playa Vista are expected to open by year’s end.

8122 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood, modernanimal .com.

and slightly cheaper prices ($20 for 30 minutes, $35 for 70 minutes). Patrons can enjoy espresso beverages, teas, and sweet treats before entering an airy, glass-enclosed room filled with up to two dozen cats wearing pink bowtie collars. If you find you’re smitten, take one home for $175, fully vaccinated and spayed. Even if you leave without a new pet, you’ve helped the feline kind: since opening in L.A. in 2017, the cat café has raised $41,000 for animal charities. 7924 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, crumbsandwhiskers.com.

CAT CAFÉ

Whether you’re looking for a simple three-gallon freshwater setup for your home office or need help maintaining the 25-gallon tank you’ve had for your red-eared slider turtle for years, U N D E RWAT E R D E P OT is a tremendous

One of only two brickand-mortar spots in the city where you can get both a cuddle with kittens and a cup of coffee, C R U M B S & W H I S K E R S is the top cat, thanks to its longer menu

resource. The company’s awe-inspiring showroom is stocked with an extensive selection of freshwater and saltwater species. An especially knowledgeable staff doles out advise on fish selection and care. The shop is known for selling healthy creatures, along with providing supplies and services for stunning aquascaping. Aquarium cleaning and maintenance is also on offer. 13708 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, underwaterdepot .net.

AQUARIUM SUPPLY CONTRIBUTORS Alexandria Abramian, Will Bahr, Leigh Anne Bowles, Sue Campos, Lauren Castro, Hailey Eber, Claire Fausett, Merle Ginsberg, Marissa Gluck, Maureen Harrington, Brad Japhe, Jason Kessler, Dakota Kim, Josh Lurie, Chris Nichols, Liz Ohanesian, Oren Peleg, Heather Platt, Jordan Riefe, Paul Schrodt, Melissa Seley, Michael Slenske, Andy Wang, Valerie Wu

MAIN IMAGE: CRUMBS & WHISKERS; FISH: INSTAGRAM.COM/UNDERWATERDEPOT; EXPERT PICK: COURTESY OF CHANTHEBIRDMAN.COM/@CHANTHEBIRDMAN

— CHAN QUACH, BIRD BEHAVORIST (@CHANTHEBIRDMAN)

Groomer > Dogue Spa is the spot for fashionable pooches— including those belonging to Usher and Awkwafina—to get a fierce new haircut or try out the latest in funky color combinations. Groomer Joshua White specializes in Japanesestyle cuts ($99-$215), unique precision trims that can turn a canine into a teddy bear or Ewok. He also offers vibrant dye jobs ($25-$400+) should you wish to turn Fido into a rainbow. But, rest assured, it’s safe: Dogue uses vegetablebased dyes and performs patch tests on clients. White’s own pooch, Snow, has become an Instagram sensation, thanks to her ever-changing, multicolored dreamcoat. Bowwow!

8278 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, doguespa.net.

PH O T O G R A PH BY RYA N S C H U D E

BEST OF L.A. INDEX

Play

Eat Cakes

Handcrafted Chocolates

Bowling Alley

Music Venue

bowlero.com/location/ bowlero-mar-vista PAGE 28

teragramballroom .com PAGE 28

Cocktail Bar

Painting Class

cheesestorebh.com PAGE 34

deathandcompany.com PAGE 28

rooflesspainters.com PAGE 32

Dirty Rice

Drag Brunch

Place to Watch the Sun Set

orleansandyorkdeli .com PAGE 37

hamburgermarys.com PAGE 30

PAGE 28

@hannahziskin PAGE 38

Cheese Shop

Psychic

cemeterytour.com PAGE 30

Lily, 818-507-1610 PAGE 32

Hotel Day Pass

Secret Swing

whollywoodhotel.com PAGE 30

laparks.org PAGE 28

‘It’ Gallery

Surf School

nonaka-hill.com PAGE 30

malibumakos.com PAGE 30

Health & Beauty Affordable Massage themassagegarage.com PAGE 46

@oui_melrose PAGE 36

theplus-bus.com PAGE 41

Bargain Shopping

Retro T-Shirts

fashiondistrict.org/ santee-alley PAGE 41

valleyrelicsmuseum .org PAGE 45

Bike Shop

Shopping Mall

helenscycles.com PAGE 45

westfield.com/ centurycity PAGE 45

Bridal Salon

Fish Market

clairepettibone.com PAGE 41

thejointeatery.com PAGE 34

newhaojing.com PAGE 37

Design Object

Food Hall grandcentralmarket .com PAGE 36

thejonesesla.com PAGE 40

Pasta Tasting

Specialty Bookstore

pastabarencino.com PAGE 34

Discount Suits

therippedbodicela .com PAGE 45

Food Truck

itsawraphollywood .com PAGE 40

yessaquatic.com PAGE 37

@bakers.bench PAGE 36

Home Goods

Fried Chicken Sandwich

Wings

daybirdla.com PAGE 37

Sofa Supplier

jeromebryon.com PAGE 41

Vegan Croissants

ilashhaus.com PAGE 47

hourglasscosmetics .com PAGE 46

Bath Products

Nail Art

flamingoestate.com PAGE 46

Lisa Kon Lab, 4444 Lankershim Blvd.

PAGE 47

Colorist Matt Rez, 424-245-9702 PAGE 47

Teeth Whitening

Facials

thebritebar.com PAGE 46

facileskin.com PAGE 47

Workout

Holistic Medicine

thestrengthshoppe.com PAGE 47

5 2 L A M AG . C O M

Next Gen Power Broker Spot

Plus-Size Vintage

cupidscloset.com PAGE 45

dinosfamouschicken .com PAGE 34

Tennis Shop Westwood Sporting Goods 310-208-1615 PAGE 40

kneelandco.com PAGE 40

Nursery rghomeandgarden.com PAGE 45

Women’s Work Clothes fabianapigna.com PAGE 40

Lash Lift

wildterra.la PAGE 46

blog.jeiranlashai.com PAGE 46

needlela.com PAGE 36

Adult Store

Old-School Chinese

Kids

Makeup Apothecary

New-School Chinese

gigis.la PAGE 34

Doughnuts History Tour

johnkellychocolates .com PAGE 34

Shop

Botanical Garden

Music Class

descansogardens.org PAGE 48

whatababe.com PAGE 48

Children’s Designer Duds

Playground

sunsetplaza.com PAGE 48

Cooking Class thegourmandiseschool .com PAGE 48

Kids’ Resale Store thegreenbeangoods .com PAGE 48

cityofpasadena. net/parks-and-rec/ parks/brooksidepark/ PAGE 48

Toy Store shopmercimilo.com PAGE 48

Pets Aquarium Supply

Dog Walk

underwaterdepot.net PAGE 50

southcoastbotanic garden.org PAGE 50

Cat Café

Groomer

crumbsandwhiskers .com PAGE 50

doguespa.net PAGE 51

Veterinary Care modernanimal.com PAGE 50

SAVE THE DATE!

PHOTO CREDIT: JEFF DRONGOWSKI, JENNIFER FUJIKAWA, KYLE MUNSON

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24

JOIN US AT OUR 15TH ANNUAL CULINARY FESTIVAL FEATURING NOTABLE CHEFS, ICONIC L.A. RESTAURANTS, CRAFT BREWS, BOUTIQUE WINES, AND SPIRITS TASTINGS. Venue and Host Partner

SADDLEROCK RANCH, MALIBU

$99 EARLY BIRD TICKETS | ON SALE AUGUST 1 - 31 lamag.com/thefoodevent2021

M u s t b e a g e 2 1 + t o a t t e n d . P l e a s e d o n ’ t d r i n k a n d d r i ve . A l ways we a r yo u r s e a t b e l t . E ve n t d e t a i l s s u b j e c t t o c h a n g e .

L.A. Stories

B E NJA M I N S V E T K E Y

Nikki at Night STUDIO 54 IT GIRL! WIZARD OF WALL STREET! JET-SETTING SOCIALITE! SELFIE-STICK ENTREPRENEUR! 80-YEAR-OLD NIKKI HASKELL IS STILL THE LIFE OF EVERY PARTY. BUT DON’T ASK HER ABOUT DONALD TRUMP

N I K K I H A S K E L L is running late—she has a TikTok lesson scheduled for the afternoon—but she’s got just enough time for a brief tour of her Wilshire Corridor condo. It’s a lot to take in, so she moves swiftly, starting in the living room where a huge painting of a cow hangs on one wall (it’s signed by the late Andy Warhol). Then P L AY I NG W I T H F I R E Haskell at one of three she dashes to the bedroom, pointing to a 80th-birthday bashes, this slew of portraits by longtime pal Leroy Neione at the Beverly Hills Hotel on May 13. man (he painted at least 40 of her before his death in 2012). A moment later, she’s in her office, cluttered with sketchbooks and scraps of old art along with framed photos propped in a bookcase, including one of a man with a pelt-like comb-over. “I’ve known Donald for years,” she says. “Ivana is one of my closest friends.”

Haskell has made a lot of close friends over the years. Or at least close acquaintances. Joan Collins, Liza Minelli, Roy Cohn, Michael Jackson, George Hamilton—the list stretches on and on. In fact, Haskell has so many famous pals that she couldn’t fit them all into just one party when she turned 80 in May; instead, she sprinkled them across “I know everybody,” Haskell says as she sashays three separate events—one at the Beverly Hills Hotel, through her apartment in leopard-print slacks and a another at the home of art collector Eugenio Lopez, and black cardigan. “I have close friends who are really fathe third at Million Dollar Listing star Josh Flagg’s house. mous, and they’ll call me and ask if by any chance I have Among the attendees: Jacqueline Bisset, Kathy Hilton, so-and-so’s phone number, and it usually turns out that I Ryan O’Neal, Wolfgang Puck, Stefanie Powers, Melissa do. They’re like, ‘How do you do that? How do you know Rivers, Candy Spelling, Ricky Schroder, Cornelia Guest, everybody?’ And my answer is, ‘I have no idea.’ ” and, last but not least, a slew of drag performers who In that rarified strata of what used to be called high looked confusingly like many of the guests.

54 L A M AG . C O M

P H O T O G R A P H BY J O S E F JA S S O

L A A R T S H O W.C O M

56 L A M AG . C O M

Rodeo Drive—it was a restaurant owned by Lana Turner’s husband— and then when we were a little older, we’d hang out at a club called the Daisy. I don’t think there was ever a night when Nikki didn’t go out. And she’s been going out ever since, every single night of her life.”

She got married in 1962 after graduating Beverly Hills High, although she did it for all the wrong reasons. “I was in love with someone else,” she explains. “I figured if I told the man who I was really in love with that I was going to marry this other man, he would burst in and say, ‘No! Don’t marry him! Marry me!’ But he didn’t. So I was trapped.” Not surprisingly, her marriage to real estate developer Jack Haskell didn’t last long, but on the upside she did pocket $18,000 in the divorce settlement, which she invested in the stock market and turned into $2 million. “It was a fluke,” she says. “I’m no financial genius.” She wasn’t a genius at romance either; she remarried Jack Haskell two years later, then divorced again soon after. By then, the couple had moved to New York, where Nikki decided to become a stockbroker.

It’s possible to look at Haskell as a pioneering feminist—most women on Wall Street in the late 1960s were fetching coffee, not making milliondollar trades—but Haskell swats away

CO U RT E SY O F N I K K I H AS K E L L

society, Haskell has an uncanny history of showing up at the right place at the most fabulous moment. Over the decades, she’s cycled through a half dozen incarnations.

In the 1960s, she was one of the first female stockbrokers on Wall Street.

In the 1970s, she was among New York’s most ubiquitous “It” girls, as much a fixture of Studio 54 as Jagger or Halston.

In the 1980s, she garnered ON T H E L I ST a bit of fame of her own as Above: Haskell with Warhol in the the host of The Nikki Haskell Show, 1980s. Right: With Trump and Ivana a cable-access celebrity interview at their wedding reception at the 21 Club in 1977. program in which she rubbed elbows with everyone from Peter O O O O Allen to Imelda Marcos. And in the 1990s, she reinvented herself as an H A S K E L L M E T H E R first famous inventor, peddling products like the person when she was just six years Star Cruncher exercise device and old. “My parents took me to nightStarCap diet pills. clubs in Chicago when I was a girl,” Her true calling, however, has she recalls. “And the first act I ever always remained the same: party saw was Jimmy Durante and Carmen girl. This is a woman who collects Miranda. I have a photo of me with famous friends the way Marcos Durante—do you want to see?” She hoarded footwear. But then these taps on her iPhone and pulls up an are challenging times for socialites, old picture of young Nikki sitting especially those of a certain age. Even next to the Schnozzobefore the pandemic, la. “This,” she says, “is Haskell’s veneer of where it all began.” haute elitism was It continued when already beginning to “I don’t think her father, a successpeel. Her association there was ever ful hat manufacturer, with Trump cost her a night when moved the family to at least two friends Beverly Hills, where during the 2016 Nikki didn’t 13-year-old Haskell— election. And then go out. And she’s née Golbus—found COVID-19 upended been going out herself in even closer the party altogether. proximity to fame.

Haskell weathered ever since, every And to tragedy. On the plague better than single night her first day at the most—she spent the of her life.”

El Rodeo school, her first few months of it dad died. “He drove ensconced in her good me that morning, friend Clive Davis’s dropped me off, then Palm Springs comhad a heart attack,” she remempound—yet it was clearly a struggle. bers. Even back then, though, “Before COVID,” she says, sounding Haskell was resilient, and before like the saddest 80-year-old disco long she found herself at the center queen in L.A., “I was still dancing of her school’s social swirl. “She every Saturday night. I was going to was always a force of nature,” says Giorgio’s whenever I was in town. It’s Eleanor Pillsbury, who befriended this tiny swatch of a discotheque on Haskell that first week at El Rodeo Sunset. I loved the sound. I loved the and has remained close ever since. feel. I missed it so much. I do my best “We would hang out at the Luau on thinking on a dance floor.”

the idea. For one thing, she says, she didn’t encounter much sexism on the trading floor. “I was going with Fran Tarkenton at the time, the quarterback, so the only thing the men at the firm wanted from me were tickets to Giants games,” she says. For another, her attitudes today aren’t what one might call woke. “We’re going through the most ridiculous times with the MeToo movement,” she says.

“I think a lot of times women allow themselves to be taken advantage of because they think there’s going to be a silver lining, and when there isn’t, they turn the tables.”

In any case, by the late 1970s, she’d grown bored with Wall Street and found another passion uptown: Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager’s new club on 54th Street. “Here’s the thing about Studio 54,” she says. “Yes, there were drugs. Yes, there were people jumping off of balconies.

Yes, there was stuff going on in the basement. But I didn’t do drugs, I wasn’t promiscuous, I didn’t go into the basement. I don’t like going into the basements of any building—I don’t even park my car underground.

To me, Studio 54 was all about the music. It was all about getting on the dance floor and dancing.”

It was also about networking.

On any given evening, the place was packed with superstars—John Belushi, Ralph Lauren, Rod Stewart, Truman Capote, Grace Jones, Debbie Harry, and scores of other names tripped the light fantastic there.

It was where Haskell first bonded with Trump and befriended Warhol and partied with the likes of Diane von Furstenberg. In fact, it was von Furstenberg’s husband, Prince Egon, who convinced Haskell to host the cable-access interview show. Initially, he planned to cohost it with her, but then backed out, leaving Haskell holding the mic on her own.

At the time, public access was the Wild West of cable TV—its airwaves were dirt cheap and just about anything was allowed. The lead-in for The Nikki Haskell Show was Midnight Blue, an hourlong raunchfest featuring the obscene rantings of pornographer Al Goldstein. But Haskell turned out to be a savvy media entrepreneur; she used Studio 54 as a backdrop, combing the club’s

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guest lists for subjects. Even after the club closed in 1980, she found a way to turn the show into a globetrotting boondoggle. “There was this man at Pan Am in charge of promotions,” she explains. “And he was a serious alcoholic. So I would call him at four in the afternoon and say, ‘Do you think you could put a piano in Clipper Class so I can do some interviews?’ And he’d be like, ‘OK.’ ” After the show ended in the late 1980s, Haskell continued jet-setting, flitting back and forth between New York and L.A. and spending time in London, where, she says, she was approached by a CIA recruitment officer. “He asked if I’d be interested in being an agent because I knew so many people,” she says. “I went, ‘Are you kidding me? Everybody would know in five seconds I was a spy. I can’t keep a secret.’ ” Instead, she became an entrepreneur, developing the Star Cruncher, a resistanceband exercise device that she cooked up while dancing at Studio 54. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if I could get a workout just by dancing around?’” The Cruncher sold well and was followed by a line of sugarfree candies (“because I’ve been on a diet my whole life”) and then, fatefully, the StarCap diet pills.

The supplements were originally marketed in the 1990s to women as “a natural blend of papaya and garlic from the higher Andes of Peru,” but they turned out to also contain bumetanide, a diuretic that could be used to mask steroid use.

Not surprisingly, they became popular with professional athletes. But when six NFL players tested positive for bumetanide in 2007, they pinned the blame on Haskell and sued her. Haskell was stunned— “They were taking whole bottles of it at a time”—but in the end, after seven years of litigation, the players won, and she was bankrupted. “I lost millions,” she says. “I lost my business. It was not my favorite part of life.”

Within a few years, though, she was reinventing herself yet again, this time as an author, plugging away at a memoir she titled Overdressed When Naked. The book was never published—actually, she never got past page 70—but it may well end up

finding an audience anyway. Haskell has spent the last year working with Ben York Jones, a writer on the Netflix comedy Everything Sucks!, on a potential TV series loosely based on her biography. “A cross between Sex and the City and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is how Haskell describes it.

Jones, who hopes to start pitching the project around town in the next couple of months, offers a slightly more refined take: “It’s going to primarily focus on life in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Nikki invented this new type of lifestyle talk show, before Entertainment Tonight,” he says. “It was the beginning of Reaganism, and everyone was living in the material world. And Nikki was there as a kind of social glue.”

One character that probably won’t make it onto the screen—at least if Jones has anything to say about it—is Haskell’s own personal Mr. Big. But Haskell’s relationship with Trump—and her politics in general—could end up being her biggest obstacle—in Hollywood, anyway. Since the 2016 election, she hasn’t been shy about dropping right-wing conspiracy theories during interviews (like the one about Barack Obama secretly running a “shadow government”).

Haskell’s rhetoric has softened a bit since the Capitol riots, but not much. “I think Donald was a great president. But I can’t imagine what he’s thinking,” she says about the insurrection. “I think he’s destroying his legacy.” Still, even knowing what she knows now, she’d vote for Trump again.

O O O O

H A S K E L L WA S I N L . A . when the

pandemic hit in March 2020. “I didn’t really pay much attention to it,” she says. “I wasn’t in denial or anything—I knew I had to be careful—but I wasn’t too worried.

And then my friend Clive Davis called and said he was going down to Palm Springs to quarantine. Did I want to come down for a week?”

She ended up staying 14 weeks.

Apparently, dinner conversations were lively: “I enjoy Nikki’s company because she has great stories

PROMOTION

16 A L L S H E WA N T S T O D O I S DA NC E

CO U RT E SY N I K K I H AS K E L L

With Joan Collins and Robert Evans in 2009.

Though Haskell went clubbing almost every night, she says she didn’t participate in “the stuff going on in the basement.”

that outweigh her dialogue on who she’s supporting politically,” Davis diplomatically describes their time together in an email. But it wasn’t all fun and games inside the music mogul’s Las Palmas compound.

While Davis labored on a slate of projects, Haskell toiled on her latest invention, a selfie stick she calls the Star Shooterz. “I designed everything, from soup to nuts,” she says, unboxing one of the gizmos to demonstrate how it works. “I invented this three-headed plug so it can charge the lights and phone at the same time.”

After Davis decamped Palm Springs, Haskell flew back to L.A. only to find herself smack in the middle of the BLM protests. She got back on a plane and hunkered down in her apartment in New York for a month, then jetted down to Miami, where she again bunked with Davis before returning to her condo in the Wilshire Corridor, where right now she’s finishing up her apartment tour by showing off some of her own art—sketches of various vistas she’s visited in farflung regions over the decades.

“People have been accusing me my entire life of overdoing it, of going to every party,” says the socialite, running her fingers across a picture she drew years ago of a villa in St. Tropez. “Well, they’re right, I did overdo it. And I’m thrilled that I did. I’m thrilled that I did everything that I did because there’s never going to be anything like those times again. Nobody is ever going to be able to do what I did.

The world,” she says, “is never going to be the same.”

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A family-friendly immersive summer exhibition, “RECONNECTING: A Vision of Unity by Kengo Kito” on display at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles located inside Hollywood & Highland center. © JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles

Los Angeles magazine’s Whiskey Festival Friday, August 20, 7 p.m.

The BLOC, Los Angeles

Take a deep dive into the world of whiskey at Los Angeles magazine’s ZP_[O HUU\HS >OPZRL` -LZ[P]HS 4LL[ [OL KPZ[PSSLYZ ZPW [OL ÄULZ[ selections including Maker’s Mark, experience new labels, and learn fresh cocktail recipes. Plus enjoy hors d’oeuvres, live music, and unique experiences that will complement the bespoke atmosphere.

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STARS of South African Wine Wednesday, August 25, 7 p.m.

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PROMOTION

FRIDAY

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2021

Take a deep dive into the world of whiskey at Los Angeles magazine’s sixth annual Whiskey Festival. Meet the distillers, sip the finest selections, learn fresh cocktail recipes, and experience new labels. Plus enjoy hors d’oeuvres, live music and unique experiences that will complement the bespoke atmosphere.

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THE

Devil ’s BARGAIN

In 1995, Tupac Shakur was in Rikers Island on sexual assault charges when L.A. rap entrepreneur Suge Knight offered to pay his $3 million bail on the condition he sign with Knight’s Death Row Records. A year later, Shakur was dead, assassinated in a drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. The fraught relationship between the rising superstar and his ruthless would-be mentor is captured in this excerpt from the just-published oral history of Shakur’s life.

BY SHELDON PEARCE From CHANGES: An Oral History of Tupac Shakur. Copyright ©2021

by Sheldon Pearce. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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ALL EYES ON HIM Shakur (left) and Knight attend a Mike Tyson prizefight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, March 1996. Their once-tight partnership, sealed by millions in album sales and fierce loyalty, was starting to unravel as the rapper sought to distance himself from the violence and paranoia at Death Row Records. Six months later, they were ambushed by assassins after leaving another bout at the MGM, killing Shakur and wounding Knight.

ESLIE GERARD (FORMER A & R, INTERSCOPE RECORDS) When Tupac was in prison, he couldn’t get bailed out. It was a $3 million bond and Suge Knight paid for it, and he said, “If I pay for this, I want you on my label.” At that point, Tupac was on the up. He was hot.

He was the guy.

VIRGIL ROBERTS (FORMER PRESIDENT, SOLAR RECORDS) Tupac had been signed to Interscope. Interscope didn’t know what to do with him. Suge was really good at recognizing talent, and he recognized the talent in Tupac. He basically went to [Interscope president] Jimmy [Iovine] and said, “Give me Tupac—sign his contract over to me. I know what to do with it.” So he then went and got Tupac out of jail and turned him into a Death Row artist.

ALEX ROBERTS (FORMER HEAD OF BUSINESS AFFAIRS, DEATH ROW RECORDS) It was Snoop who brought up the idea of Pac on Death Row. It’s when he’d gone into Rikers on that bullshit charge. He’d been in and out of trouble already.

Suge said, “I need to ask you, because this could hurt us: Do you really think Pac is innocent?” I said, “From my lips to God’s ears, yes.” “Why?” “My experience with him. How polite he was.”

WENDY DAY (RAP COALITION FOUNDER) He came from a very poor background and never had money. So when the money started to come, he assumed that it would continue to come, and he spent accordingly. There

RAPPER’S DELIGHT Clockwise from top: Shakur with Shock G of Digitial Underground, in 1991.

With Snoop Dogg at the American Music Awards, in 1996. The young Shakur was influenced by the first wave of rap stars like Flavor Flav, seen with him in 1989.

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were people in his life that were taking advantage of him, and he knew that. They were there for him in the beginning when he had nothing, so even though he knew they were stealing from him, he wasn’t going to do anything because he felt a sense of loyalty. Loyalty was extremely important to him.

PUDGEE THA PHAT BASTARD (RAPPER) He stayed loyal as fuck.

WENDY DAY He had loyalty to Death Row. He didn’t sign just for financial reasons because, at that point any label would have picked him up. Part of the reason that he chose Death Row was because he felt like the East Coast was against him.

He believed that all of the powerful music influences—from Andre Harrell to Puffy—were a cabal. Remember, when Pac was incarcerated—and I believe this was a Suge Knight chess move—[Knight] got onstage and dissed Puffy. I believe he did that because it was the perfect way to instill in a new artist your intention to ride for them.

JUSTIN TINSLEY (JOURNALIST) By the fall of 1995, it was like, wait a minute, this label has Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and this label has now added Tupac. We talk about super teams and big threes in the NBA—Suge had those three guys all on this label at one time. Of course, that was very short-lived: Dre left by, like, the spring of ’96. And Dre leaving it should have been the first telltale sign. But Death Row at its peak was such a powerful example of Black entrepreneurship.

LESLIE GERARD I’m at a party at MCA. In walks Suge Knight with a trail of people behind him. The first person in line is Tupac. The next person was Snoop. It’s this kind of line of succession. Tupac sees me, jumps out and gives me a big hug.

When Pac breaks from the line, everybody stops, waiting for him to get back in the line. It was like they weren’t allowed to continue until Tupac got back in front.

ALEX ROBERTS When Suge got him out, Pac went straight into the studio and wrote All Eyez on Me. You would think it would’ve been straight to the strip club. No. He made it known that we’d signed the right person.

KENDRICK WELLS (PERSONAL ASSISTANT) The closer we came to the release date, the more stressed out he was.

I’d never seen him smoke so much weed.

What I realized later was he had signed his way out of prison based on what this album was going to do. You think, “Oh shit. What if this doesn’t sell?” Then, like, one hour into it coming out, you find out it’s fucking double platinum. I saw him go from, like, being on edge to being the baddest motherfucker on the planet because he did it.

MOE Z MD (PRODUCER) Not even two months later, there was “California Love.” I remember I pulled over to the side of the road.

I was blown away by how far they’d taken it.

LEAVING THE THUG LIFE

Three weeks before his murder, Shakur (right) attends a Los Angeles rally opposing California’s three-strikes law with Snoop Dogg (center) and Hammer.

that Suge held him responsible for the murder of Jake Robles.

PREVIOUS SPREAD (OPENER): PHOTO BY JEFF KRAVITZ/FILMMAGIC; OPPOSITE PAGE (CLOCKWISE FROM THE TOP): PAT JOHNSON/MEDIAPUNCH/IPX; PHOTO BY KEVIN MAZUR ARCHIVE/WIREIMAGE; PHOTO BY CLARENCE GATSON/GADO/GETTY IMAGES; THIS PAGE: AP PHOTO/FRANK WIESE

KENDRICK WELLS Those sessions were a party going in and a party going out. It was kind of weird because you going and you’re like, “I’m at crazy-ass Death Row, the Motown of right now.” But you get patted down by guards when you go in.

TIM NITZ (ENGINEER) Can-Am Studios was a place that Death Row had leased for like two years. Once you’re in there, there was this constant “I gotta watch my back in here” vibe. There were stories of Suge Knight having a big office called the Red Room. There were rumors about how this one guy—this videographer—did a video for them and something went wrong and they made him go in there and drink piss. It wasn’t the ideal environment for an engineer. I go in and, like Nate Dogg is sitting behind me on the couch with a pistol. And I’m like, “Wow, my back’s to the guy with the gun.”

TOMMY “D” DAUGHERTY (ENGINEER) I can remember one of the Jacksons sitting there in a session or the guys from Bell Biv DeVoe. It was amazing, the people that would show up saying they wanted to be part of Death Row. It was like, “You don’t even know what you’re dealing with here.“

JUSTIN TINSLEY What really set this thing off was what happened in Atlanta in September 1995 when Big Jake was allegedly killed by Puffy’s bodyguard at the time. At least before that, it was just people dissing each other; but after that, there was blood on the ground.

GREG KADING Jake Robles’s murder—that was when blood was first spilled. Then what kind of exacerbates this whole thing is these labels starting to say that, you know, Bad Boy West and Death Row East, and that they were going to encroach on each other’s territories.

This just goes back to gangster mob mentality: “That’s our turf.” Then you get a murder, and now it’s really real. The violence is real.

“TUPAC AND DEATH ROW FELT LIKE A GREAT MARRIAGE AT FIRST. ONCE HE HOOKED UP WITH SUGE AND HIS WHOLE CAMP, IT WAS LIKE SIGNING A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL.”

PUDGEE THA PHAT BASTARD One conversation I had with Biggie, he expressed to me very implicitly how he wished he was on Death Row. He liked the gangster and the elevation of Pac and them, of what their movement was doing.

GREG KADING (FORMER LAPD DETECTIVE) Puffy is not some gangster. He’s not Tony Soprano. He was in fear for his life and for good reason. He knew that Suge had it out for him. He knew

ALEX ROBERTS The East Coast/West Coast thing was great for business. There was a beef, but we leveraged it to sell records more than anything else. It sold one hell of a lot of records. I’d tell people to look at the positives, just don’t push it too far. And nobody needs to get shot. If you’re pushing it too far, you might as well go back to the hood and stand on a corner where you have to win every second of the day. The heat wins once, and you’re done. Dre and Eazy and Cube, they’d worked so hard to get away from that life and get welcomed into Beverly Hills.

TOMMY “D” DAUGHERTY What I liked about Death Row was, the music was fucking the bomb. I mean, the beats were just slamming. It was real shit from the hood; it wasn’t a bunch of commercial garbage. Everything was spontaneous.

Songs would happen so quickly. [Tupac] was so fast, it was ridiculous. We did “Hail Mary” in 15 minutes. Me and Lance, L A M AG . C O M 75

JUSTIN TINSLEY Pac’s solo career was only from 1991 to 1996, and he basically spent all of 1995 in jail. He was such a maniacal worker that it always felt like he’d never slept.

TOMMY “D” DAUGHERTY Suge wanted him to do a dis album where he’s dissing all the New York rappers.

GOBI RAHIMI (VIDEOGRAPHER) Suge had his own little-boy complex or whatever, flexing on who’s a bigger CEO between him and P. Diddy.

VIRGIL ROBERTS Suge was the hunter that got captured by the game. If you’re going to be the leader of thugs, you’re supposed to be the baddest thug of them all.

TOMMY “D” DAUGHERTY Suge didn’t have any respect from the Bloods. They were just taking advantage of him. They didn’t consider him a gang member at all.

ALEX ROBERTS Suge could get whatever he wanted because people were so intimidated. What annoyed me was you have all the money, and you don’t take care of the right things. He

didn’t need to be on the cover of Vibe magazine with Dre, Pac, and Snoop. Everything was over the top.

TOMMY “D” DAUGHERTY Death Row wasn’t as fun as [Tupac] thought it was gonna be. I could just tell he wasn’t digging it at all. He was really pissed, too, because he realized he wasn’t getting paid shit for what he was selling on those records.

GOBI RAHIMI Tupac sent his assistant to take me up to the Malibu house that Suge Knight was renting from the assistant DA of Los Angeles, of all people. Immediately, Pac got on a call with Suge, and they started getting into an argument. They were arguing about money—“I’m selling millions of albums, and you’re giving me pennies.”

WENDY DAY I did notice that in the summer right before he died, he had stopped wearing the Death Row chain. He started wearing an angel pendant. That was when I reached out to him to make sure everything was OK. He’s like, “I’m going to be leaving Death Row. I want to start shopping a deal for my company. Since I helped the East Coast and the West Coast go to war, my first project I want to put out is called One Nation.”

And that’s what I was working on when he was shot.

ALEX ROBERTS The rumors of Pac leaving Death Row were true. He wanted to marry Quincy Jones’s daughter. Quincy said to Pac, “Are you going to be able to get out clean without any trouble? You think you’ll be OK?” I told Pac, “I know Suge’s been good to you. But by the same token, do you have anything in your name? Do you know how much money you have made?”

Pac started thinking about it. He had all the watches, the gold jewelry, drove whatever he wanted.

But nothing was in his name. I was really close to Suge, and I’d brought it up before. He’d go, “Alex, I’m doing it because they’re gonna take that money—whether it’s 100 grand or 200 grand or 500 grand—get it on a Friday, and we wouldn’t see them for a week. And then they’d be calling, saying, ‘Hey, I’m in Vegas, and I’m broke.’”

FRIEND AND FOE

Smalls and Shakur in 1996. Once close, they became bitter enemies in the rap wars.

Opposite: Shakur in 1994 with Jada Pinkett.

7 6 L A M AG . C O M

COLIN WOLFE (PRODUCER) Tupac and Death Row felt like a great marriage at first—great place to go to get that Cali gangsta shit. Once he hooked up with Suge and his whole camp, it was like signing a deal with the devil. I guess his ego got in the way, being that he wanted to be thug life. But I

RGR COLLECTION / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

the other engineer, just looked at each other like, “Can you believe what just happened?” We wanted to listen to it more, but he was ready to do the next song. We must’ve recorded 125 to 150 songs. He only signed on to do three albums, which is like 40 songs.

think he found after a while that, yeah, this whole thing ain’t right. That’s why everybody left. All of those cars and houses—none of that was in their names.

ALEX ROBERTS We owned a car dealership—West Coast Exotics—because everybody we were signing we were giving cars to. Suge said, “Never, ever register the title in their names.”

KENDRICK WELLS When it comes to Death Row, I think they were doing some divide-and-conquer shit, and [Tupac] kind of backed their play. I realized, “Oh, shit, he can’t do nothing about it.”

was killed, I genuinely thought Suge Knight had him killed.

I remember calling some guys that I knew—gangbangers that were rappers as well—and asking if that was possible.

Everybody came back saying no.

CATHY SCOTT [Knight] wasn’t running away from the cops.

He didn’t know where the shooter was, and he’s trying to get help for Tupac. Plus he was shot—he had shrapnel in the base of his skull.

GOBI RAHIMI He had a tremendous amount of sadness. I would find a lot of the pictures that I took him in, he would sort of be looking down at his rings and contemplating, and you could just see that he was a million miles away.

LESLIE GERARD Right before he went to Vegas, he said, “Suge told me that I’m worth more to him dead than alive.”

GOBI RAHIMI I convinced Tracy [that we should] go to Vegas for her birthday, because I knew that Pac was going, and in my gut I felt like something was going to go wrong. She was like, “Hell no, I’m not going to Vegas” and “Hell no, I don’t want to be around Suge and Death Row for my birthday.” We were at Club 662 waiting for Pac to show up when, after a couple of hours, Nate Dogg came through the crowd, came straight up to us, and said, “Pac and Suge have been shot.”

“THE EAST COAST-WEST COAST THING WAS GREAT FOR BUSINESS. THERE WAS A BEEF, BUT WE LEVERAGED IT TO SELL A HELL OF A LOT OF RECORDS MORE THAN ANYTHING.”

CATHY SCOTT (FORMER LAS VEGAS SUN CRIME REPORTER) I got a call in the middle of the night, at about two a.m., from one of my sources at homicide that said, “Get down to the Strip. Two-pack Shack-er”—that’s how he pronounced it—“has been shot.”

TOM RODRIGUEZ/GLOBE PHOTOS VIA ZUMA WIRE

GREG KADING A couple of [Metropolitan Police Department] guys hear shots fire. They see cars peeling out. They don’t know who’s fucking shooting whom. They see Suge make this abrupt U-turn and pull away. And so if you’re seeing that type of driving, you’re like, “Fuck, maybe those are the shooters.”

CATHY SCOTT They saw Suge turn around. Instead of calling for backup, they both took off, chasing Suge Knight down the Strip as he’s trying to get through traffic.

GOBI RAHIMI My gut was telling me that Suge did it.

WENDY DAY The one thing that I knew about Suge was, Suge really demanded loyalty. To the point where when Pac

GREG KADING The fight at MGM Grand came about because of a preexisting incident between a gang member named Orlando Anderson, who was a member of the South Side Crips, and a guy named Trevon Lane, who was a member of Suge Knight’s entourage. [Lane] had his necklace stolen [by Anderson] at the Lakewood mall [near Compton]. And so there was already conflict between these gangs. So when Trevon saw Orlando kind of hanging out, loitering, Trevon did what any person would do: “Hey, there’s that motherfucker that robbed my chain.”

And Tupac took it upon himself to kind of step up and retaliate for that.

ALEX ROBERTS Pac didn’t need to go after Orlando Anderson. Just let him keep the fucking chain. But there were other people around, and Suge was in sight. If they hadn’t been around, Pac wouldn’t have gone after him.

WENDY DAY A lot of the problems that he had in his life were due to him retaliating for other people.

CATHY SCOTT Orlando was pissed. Gangbangers don’t forget; they retaliate. They’re looking for him; they all know where he’s going. So they went down to Club 662 and waited for him. They came across them [on the road], and instead of having to do it at Club 662, they decided to do it there. It was like a Bonnie and Clyde kind of thing—rat-tat-tat-tat, shoot up the side of the car.

GOBI RAHIMI We called his business manager, Yaasmyn Fula, and found out that he was at University hospital.

When we got there, me and Tracy were the only two people from Pac’s camp. We didn’t trust Death Row. We didn’t trust Suge. So we didn’t know who to trust. It was scary.

DR. JOHN FILDES (UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER) I was at home that night, and I never saw Tupac and I never treated him. But as the director of trauma at University hospital, I personally know all the physicians who treated him in trauma and who operated on him and who cared for him in the ICU. He had low blood pressure and was treated with IV fluids and blood and immedi- (CONTINUED ON PAGE 118) L A M AG . C O M 7 7

REAL ESTATE Six of Los Angeles’s highest-end agents dish among plus the straight dope about the cons—but mostly pros— BY ALEXANDRIA ABRAMIAN

CONFIDENTIAL themselves about clients from hell, the horrors of open houses, of selling eight-figure properties in the middle of a pandemic I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y R I S KO

>

WHO BETTER TO PARSE the L. A.

luxury-real-estate market than these unscripted real-estate celebrities? An original cast member of Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, Josh Flagg is arguably the king of small-screen square-footage swagger, having sold more than $2 billion worth of properties since he started in the industry at 18. Mauricio Umansky may be known to many as the husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’s Kyle Richards, but as founder of The Agency, he also oversees one of the fastest-growing private brokerages with offices worldwide and more than 600 agents, including Michelle Schwartz and Ari Afshar, who are quickly blazing their own Carrara-marble-paved trails to fame.

Sally Forster Jones routinely logs record sales in Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, and beyond, while Malibu macher Chris Cortazzo’s career continues to crest as he rides L.A.’s exploding coastal market.

> What’s the difference between an easy and a difficult client?

Josh Flagg All of my clients are extremely difficult, and

that’s what makes this job extremely fun. Look, when you’re buying houses in the price range I deal with, of course you’re going to be difficult. But that’s OK—I’m also difficult. These are massive purchases, so do you really expect people to be easygoing about it? No. But I like it!

It keeps you going. I don’t like doing boring things. I like demanding people. It’s a thrill. > What’s demanding?

Flagg Demanding could be I have to close in one week to

facilitate a 1031 exchange. Or when a seller wants a threemonth leaseback, and the buyer wants to move in right away. These are the kind of demands I work with all the time.

Michelle Schwartz Micromanagers, often attorneys, they’re great clients. But there’s a particular personality that functions in the law world that is constantly looking for all the negatives. I’m a positive person and I believe that our transactions will be successful. > OK, but what about a truly nightmare client?

Mauricio Umansky Someone who is über-high-end, has all the

JOSH FLAGG

The Million Dollar Listing star says that COVID-19 purged windowshoppers from the luxury market.

“Now you have buyers who, if they’re interested in buying, they buy.”

8 0 L A M AG . C O M

money in the world, and is cheap as can be. Right now, I have a seller who has all the money in the world, the buyer is giving them everything you could want, and the seller doesn’t want to do a full house cleaning of the property. Same on delivering a $30 million house where the seller doesn’t want to pay $7,000 on escrow or take care of the oven that’s broken. Because they’re claiming it works fine for them. You’re still selling a $30 million house—you have to fix that goddamn oven.

Sally Forster Jones I once got trapped in the driveway by clients who were arguing and had to get the police involved to help me get my car out.

P H O T O G R A P H E D BY J O S E F JA S S O

SALLY FORSTER JONES “ I once got trapped in the driveway by clients who were arguing and had to get the police involved to help me get my car out.”

THE BIG HOUSE Typical of Forster Jones’s listings is this 32,000-square-foot hillside home in Trousdale Estates listed at $16.9 million.

> Have you ever walked away from a client?

Flagg Oh, that’s happened many times. Many times. I don’t

mind difficult, but rude I don’t tolerate. I had one abusive client that would call me, screaming all the time. I finally gave it back to him, and he couldn’t take it. He said, “If you’re dying of hunger and thirst, don’t come to me.” And I said, “Don’t worry.

If I’m dying of hunger and thirst, I would never go to you.” > Who’s worse to work with, an A-lister or a B-lister?

Flagg The celebrities and the billionaires aren’t usually that

SALLY FORSTER JONES: LAUREN HURT; TROUSDALE ESTATES LISTING: TYLER HOGAN

hard to work with themselves. But you’re not working directly with them; you’re working with their business managers, and they’re often the ones to kill the deal. They want to be looking out for their clients’ best interests, but they don’t understand the housing market. They don’t look at a property in terms of location and investment or any of those things. They get finances, not real estate. > Why is it in L.A. that certain homes seem to go from celebrity to celebrity?

Umansky It’s because the top echelon of agents are all shar-

ing clients and information. There are a handful of us who people call. Right now, we’re getting calls where people say, “I’m considering moving to Florida.” That’s happening all day long. Yesterday, I was playing golf with someone, and it was exactly that conversation: “Do you know anyone who might want to buy my house?” Anyone? I know three people who want to buy that house immediately.

Chris Cortazzo Usually they’re friends or acquaintances.

Schwartz Oftentimes, luxury agents have the inside scoop as to where celebs live in addition to the fact that many notable figures work to avoid unnecessary exposure. Working with a high-end real estate agent who specializes in luxury property provides the opportunity for a buyer to get into a home that is not being broadcast across the main

channels—a huge advantage when searching for a truly divine property. > How do you to prepare for a showing?

Flagg I don’t prepare for them. My assistant goes ahead to

do everything: open drapes, turn lights on, light candles, light fireplaces. I have no idea how long it takes because I’m not there.

Ari Afshar Anytime I have a showing, I try to get a sense of who the buyer is. I will do some due diligence, and from that I’ll create a curated playlist to match what I think their personality might be. So as they’re walking through the home, music is playing throughout that I believe will resonate with them. A lot of

“I HAD ONE ABUSIVE CLIENT THAT WOULD CALL ME, SCREAMING ALL THE TIME. I GAVE IT BACK TO HIM, AND HE COULDN’T TAKE IT.” L A M AG . C O M 81

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Cortazzo handled the sale of this 3,800-squarefoot Malibu compound for $87 million in March.

Below: Like Malibu, Pacific Palisades commands premium prices in a white-hot market. Schwartz repped this five-bedroom, five-bath Moroccanstyled manse listed at $8 million. Bottom: The Hollywood Hills are home to reliably premium prices. Afshar sold this 3,350-square-foot Nichols Canyon retreat for $3.39 million.

times, it starts a conversation about music. It creates a much better experience and can make them feel at home.

Schwartz I’m not a hard-sell person. The house is either going to sell itself or not. People want to feel in control, not that they’re being followed. I’ve bought several homes for myself. I don’t need someone to tell me, “This is the kitchen.” If there are high-end items like jewelry and art in a house, I advise clients to lock them up in a room. If people find a locked door and love the house, they can come back for a second time. Creating a little mystery is a good thing. > How has the pandemic affected the behavior of typical L.A. luxury buyers?

Umansky Our jobs seem to be getting a little bit easier, to

be honest—we seem to be showing less and selling more. decorating ideas; they’re really coming to buy. So in that regard, there are definitely less showings and more real buyers. And the buyers who are looking have money.

Flagg You have straightforward buyers who, if they’re really interested in buying, they buy. They’re not looking at a thousand other properties. It makes our life a dream.

Cortazzo Yeah, they’re focused and appreciative, which is a wonderful situation.

Schwartz I think COVID has also helped us as relationshipbased agents. The trust is really important. Also, those agents who are door-knockers, that’s all shifted.

Flagg “Knock, knock.” “Who is it?” “COVID.” > What features are popular now with luxury buyers?

Schwartz Gated communities are huge. I’m seeing that se82 L A M AG . C O M

FROM TOP: MIKE HELFRICH; TODD GOODMAN; ANTHONY BARCELO

Forster Jones People aren’t coming to just look and get

curity and safety are super high on everyone’s list. People want to create that bubble for themselves—their home as sanctuary. I have a client who’s looking to buy the house across the street so she can have full-time staff living there.

Forster Jones I have never seen so many requests for safe rooms. There’s a feeling of insecurity. People want to protect themselves. And builders and developers are paying attention; they’re including safe rooms in almost all luxury homes now. These are hidden rooms found behind a bookcase or something like that, that are bulletproof and break-in-proof. I was just in a home that’s under construction this morning, and that safe room is the size of some people’s living rooms.

Schwartz We’ve never had to think about a stay-at-home order. When you have to hunker down next time, where is that going to be? This is at the forefront of people’s minds.

> What’s your standard work uniform?

Flagg I can’t even remember the last time I

wore a suit. I’m not super dressy—I’m stylish, but more relaxed. Jeans, slacks—that kind of thing.

Afshar If it’s a tech or musician client, it’s T-shirt, jeans, and some nice tennis shoes. If it’s a luxury client, I’ll go full suit and tie. You have to play the part and dress accordingly.

Schwartz I’m always put together. You have to be a chameleon in this business. I’m a people reader: shoes, watches, and handbags are dead giveaways. You can see this and adjust who you’re going to be. If someone is in a Gucci track suit and they’re a lot younger than you thought, then I’ll adapt to that and it will impact how I show the property. I can throw out a zinger early on, and then I can gauge how

> How is L.A.’s homelessness crisis affecting the high-end market?

Schwartz That’s driving people away from cer-

tain locations. I mean, it’s just major: you come off some of those side streets, and people start scratching their heads and asking, “How do I own a $10 million house where there’s a homeless encampment down the road?” > Do the women feel men have it easier or harder in real estate?

Forster Jones Residential real estate started as

a women’s type of business, but there are more men now. I don’t know that there is much of an advantage or disadvantage.

Schwartz Age is more of a factor than gender.

Flagg I’ve never been a woman, so I don’t know.

Umansky I gotta say, being the father of four girls and being a broker and watching 350 women agents at our office, I think the biggest challenge for particularly good-looking single woman is getting past the bullshit client who is just trying to date them versus finding the real client who really has interest in working with them. Do you agree with me, Michelle? Sally?

Schwartz Totally. I’ve had women tell me that they put on a fake ring when they’re doing showings for that reason. They say the reactions are polar opposites regarding how they act and engage with them when they have a ring.

Umansky I’m going to have to start buying CZ rings for all of the onboarding woman agents.

Schwartz The open houses were scary. I would hold my phone and if I had to call someone, I’m ready. I stay prepared and stay alert. If I’m walking at night after an open house or closing a house at night, I would walk with my keys in between my fingers. There was a ring that they were marketing to real estate agents that had a hidden button so when you squeezed it, it would alert 911.

P H O T O G R A P H E D BY J O S E F JA S S O

MAURICIO UMANSKY “If you’re servicing your clients, there is zero downtime. And if it’s truly white-glove, we’re on 24/7.

Most agents at this levellive with constant low- to mid-grade anxiety.”

L A M AG . C O M 83

they respond. I know within 30 seconds who they are. It’s a game of personalities. > What are the go-to rides of high-end agents?

Flagg I have eight cars. Two vintage Rolls-Royces and two vin-

tage Mercedeses. My daily drive is my vintage Aston Martin. If I have multiple showings, I use my husband’s G-wagen. When it comes to other agents, I see a lot of S-Class Mercedeses and Bentley sedans.

Afshar I drive a Mercedes S 560. It represents comfort and luxury, and I can use it to accommodate my clients. So I’ll get a driver, and I’ll be sitting back there with them and I’m able to talk. And, of course, when I don’t have clients, it’s nice. It’s a driving-on-a-cloud car.

Forster Jones I have a Tesla Model X with a personal driver,

and I transformed the back seat into my mobile office.

With constant showings, I’m always on the move, and this allows me to be the most productive throughout my days. I wanted something that is environmentally friendly, practical to me during work and off-hours, and is a luxury vehicle that is not ostentatious. > Do you ever select a car to go with the home or client?

Schwartz It’s sad because it’s so L.A., but a car says a lot

about you. I have a BMW X7 because I have two kids. I need to have a mom-mobile that still looks good. A lot of people will ask me about my car; it becomes part of the conversation. The mom-mobile humanizes me and brings me a little more down to earth. I’m instantly able to connect with families when they see my car. > What kind of gift do you usually give clients after they’ve purchased a seven-, eight-, or nine-figure home?

Schwartz I love the Taschen oversized coffee-ta-

ble books with the stand. Those are so unique, and it’s not something you typically buy for yourself. I’ve also done a delivery service for the year—like a huge orchid arrangement per month. Also, personal chefs as a thank-you gift.

Flagg I usually send them a huge tin of caviar. I choose that because I think it’s an impressive gift and I’d love to get it. > What brand?

Flagg That’s a trade secret. > What’s in store for the L.A. real estate market? Do you believe predictions that there will be a roaring twenties?

Flagg If prohibition happens, I’ll be really

CHRIS CORTAZZO

“I have had the best year of my career because people are broadening their scope on location. You can just feel the pent-up demand. It’s coming.”

84 L A M AG . C O M

“PEOPLE ASK, ‘HOW DO I OWN A $10 MILLION HOUSE WHERE THERE’S A HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT DOWN THE ROAD?’”

PORTRAIT: COURTESY CHRIS CORTAZZO

pissed. I love drinking.

Schwartz Your safe room is going to be your bar.

Cortazzo You can just feel the built-up demand. It’s coming. I also feel that people are broadening their scope on location. These

ARI AFSHAR

“People see big deals and assume easy money.

The reality is that most agents work very long hours with the strong possibility of not getting paid at all. I believe most agents deserve every dollar they earn.”

MICHELLE SCHWARTZ

ARI ASHFAR: ALEXA MILLER; MICHELLE SCHWARTZ: MATTHEW COOKE

“Shoes, watches, and handbags are dead giveaways. If someone is in a Gucci track suit, I’ll adapt to that and it will impact how I show the property. I know within 30 second who they are.”

more exclusive locations like Malibu or Montecito have changed dramatically because people aren’t going to the office as much anymore.

Schwartz It’s also the land, the outdoor space, sports courts—all that. If kids aren’t in school, parents still want to get kids out of the house.

Cortazzo That’s why home exteriors are becoming more important. If you’re going to be staying home, you don’t want to be trapped inside.

Schwartz Personally, I think that downtown L.A. is going to really have a hard time for a while. The idea of going into a building where you have, you know, 192 other renters or owners—it’s not the ideal.

Umansky But pre-COVID L.A. was going vertical. Now that has changed. There are still a lot of high-rise buildings, and we’re going to have to figure out how to sell them. I think generational thinking has changed, too. Our 13-, 15-, and 18-year-old kids, pre-COVID, were all thinking about micro living, renting, living smaller, being mobile, all that stuff. Everything you read was, “The future is renting.” Now they’re thinking about settling down, having a big house. Having two big houses! The whole mentality is changing. And from that perspective, I actually think it’s changing for the better. > So what’s the biggest misconception about the life of a high-end L.A. real estate agent?

Umansky That everything is easy and we make gazillions

of dollars. My first call this morning, before I brushed my teeth? I just leased a place on Hollywood Boulevard, and the technician called and was grinding me that the voltage was too high. So we had to get DWP on the line. Then I had a Zoom session to go over staging a property and look at the plans. Because it’s new construction, I have to pick where the desk is going to go and what kind of TV the room will have so that I can use the TV as a sales tool.

It’s little things like this all day. But then my third call was putting $30 million into escrow, and that’s kinda fun, too.

Afshar I think people see big deals and assume easy money. The reality is that real estate agents tend to be the biggest risk-takers, betting on themselves and their ability to provide a living for not just themselves but, in most cases, their families. We work very long hours, endure incredible amounts of stress and pressure, with the strong possibility of not getting paid at all. Very few careers have such a high risk factor. As a result, I believe most agents deserve every dollar they earn.

Umansky The other thing that people may not realize? We are a service industry. If you’re servicing your clients, there is zero downtime. We’re not the celebrity; we have to deliver to people. And if it’s truly white-glove, we’re on 24/7, period. Most agents at this level live with constant low- to high-grade anxiety. I am able to not have that because of my personality, but probably 99 percent of agents do.

Cortazzo Most of us work seven days a week and have lunch in our cars.

L A M AG . C O M 85

The Brown Derby (Est. 1926)

Located across the street from the Ambassador, the city’s swankiest hotel, the Brown Derby was the buzziest celebrity restaurant of the 1920s, designed by a set designer, financed by studio executives, and haunted by the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Joan Crawford. The Brown Derby was also the birthplace of the Cobb salad, owner Bob Cobb's salmagundi of greens, tomato, chicken, bacon, eggs, avocado, and Roquefort, all mixed together tableside.

Empires of the Sun Written by

BROWN DERBY: FROM THE COLLECTION OF GEORGE GEARY; TACO BELL: COURTESY YUM BRANDS INC.

Chris Nichols

From Taco Bell to McDonald's, Wienerschnitzel to IHOP, most of the food giants that conquered the world were cooked up in California

L A M AG . C O M 87

America where you can escape the names McDonald’s, Taco Bell, or Denny’s. These food giants, and many more, originated in Southern California and have come to dominate the globe. IHOP started on Riverside Drive in 1958, but today that pancake empire stretches from Burbank to Bahrain. In his new book, Made in California: The California-Born Burger Joints, Diners, Fast Food & Restaurants That Changed America (Prospect Park Books), chef George Geary tracks down the origins of old favorites like See’s Candies and Orange Julius that have grown so large they’ve been snapped up by Warren Buffet. It also highlights California’s culinary breakthroughs, from sesame seeds on burger buns to ice cream cakes to the whole concept of Sunday brunch. Restaurants have been reinventing Mexican food here since L.A. was part of Mexico, and the book shares local origin stories for iconic dishes like nachos, tableside guacamole, combination plates, and even dueling tales over which local spot created Taco Tuesday.

The 1921 birthplace of See’s Candies on Western Avenue reopened as an outlet of Seoul-based Tom N Tom’s coffee in 2012. When Geary visited the renovated neoclassical building, he asked the barista if she had ever heard of See’s. She was unaware of the brand until one of her colleagues chimed in, “Oh, I think that’s the place with the old lady on the box of candy, right?” Geary teamed up with the company to place a plaque at the location earlier this year to mark the company’s centennial.

Geary has his own pop-culture culinary credentials. He created the giant corn dogs served on Main Street at Disneyland and baked endless prop cheesecakes for TV’s The Golden Girls.

His 2016 book, L.A.’s Legendary Restaurants, explored the elegant dining spots of old Hollywood with tales from the Cocoanut Grove and the Brown Derby, but after hearing Julia Child gush about McDonald’s french fries and Anthony Bourdain proclaim that the best burgers come from In-N-Out, Geary came to understand the connections between L.A.’s fine-dining and fastfood kingdoms.

Los Angeles has always been a place to reinvent yourself. The McDonald brothers came here to get into the movie industry and ended up selling hamburgers, starting in 1948. Verne Winchell hawked used cars before opening his namesake doughnut shops that same year. Many of these classic restaurants started as mom-andpop joints, the same kind we love celebrating in our annual Best of L.A. issue. Perhaps one of this year’s picks will be the next breakout hit.

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IHOP: COURTESY DINE BRANDS GLOBAL

T

HERE IS NO CORNER OF

Taco Bell (Est. 1962)

Glen Bell was a student at San Bernardino High when the McDonald brothers first came to town in 1940. The fast-food entrepreneur, inspired by their success, combined their efficiency with the hard-shell tacos he enjoyed in the Inland Empire and created the world’s biggest Mexican fast-food chain. His first Taco Bell (previous page), opened in Downey in 1962, is preserved at company headquarters in Irvine.

IHOP

(Est. 1958)

Filmmaker Al Lapin was cruising around Burbank in 1958 when he noticed people lining up to get into Bob’s Big Boy. The building across the street was for rent, so he borrowed money, came up with breakfast specialties like Tahitian Orange Pineapple pancakes, and a star was born. The original IHOP is long gone, but people are still waiting in line for a meal at Bob’s.

L A M AG . C O M 89

Lawry’s (Est. 1938)

Lawry’s has been the cornerstone of Restaurant Row in Beverly Hills since 1938, but the founding families created a food empire that goes back well over a century. Starting with homemade potato chips, the Frank and Van de Kamp clans baked generations of breads and treats at their Glassell Park plant, made seasoning salt and spices at their California Center test kitchen, and even produced a line of frozen fish sticks—still available in your grocer’s freezer.

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Wienerschnitzel (Est. 1961)

LAWRY’S: COURTESY LAWRY’S RESTAURANTS INC. ; WIENERSCHNITZEL: COURTESY GALARDI GROUP, INC.; IN-N-OUT: COURTESY IN-N-OUT BURGERS

John Galardi (pictured) was barely out of high school when he stumbled into a job at a Pasadena taco stand owned by Glen Bell. He quickly rose through the ranks while saving his money.

Bell leased the young manager a piece of land in Wilmington, with the stipulation that he could sell anything but Mexican food there. (Bell already had an idea to put his own name on the next taco stand he opened.) Galardi’s Der Wienerschnitzel #1 became a City of Los Angeles HistoricCultural Monument in 2013.

In-N-Out Burger (Est. 1948) At the end of World War II, the farmland outside of L.A. was quickly transformed into new suburbs, and freeways began stretching out in all directions.

Harry and Esther Snyder (pictured) relocated from Seattle to Baldwin Park in 1948 and built a tiny drive-through hamburger stand near their new home.

Harry created the two-way speaker in his garage, and Esther did the books. The original stand was claimed by the 10 freeway, but a replica was built nearby for the company’s 65th anniversary.

L A M AG . C O M 9 1

Hot Dog on a Stick (Est. 1946)

Baskin-Robbins (Est. 1945) Burt Baskin had Burt’s Ice Cream in South Pasadena. Irv Robbins owned Snowbird Ice Cream in Glendale. Burt married Irv’s sister, and the brothers-in-law built the largest chain of frozen-dessert shops in the world. The early stores were pink, brown, and white, representing cherries, hot fudge, and whipped cream. Burt’s original store on South Lake Avenue is still a Baskin-Robbins, 75 years after serving its first scoop.

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HOT DOG ON A STICK: COURTESY GLOBAL FRANCHISE; BASKIN ROBBINS: COURTESY BR IP HOLDER LLC

If you’ve ever been to its 1946 location (originally called Party Puffs) at the beach in Santa Monica—or to one of its outlets at an indoor mall or the L.A. County Fair (where there are eight!)—you’ve probably noticed the colorfully dressed staffers dipping dogs and stomping lemonade. Katy Perry even wore the iconic red, white, yellow, and blue stripes during her performance of California Gurls at the Super Bowl.

L A M AG . C O M 93

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THE HOT LIST L.A. MAGAZINE

OUR MONTHLY LIST OF L.A.’S MOST ESSENTIAL RESTAURANTS E D I T E D

BY

H A I L E Y

E B E R

WEST

Birdie G’s

SANTA MONICA » American $$

James Beard Award–nominated chef Jeremy Fox gets personal with a sunny spot dedicated to comfort food and named after his young daughter. The high-low menu is full of playful riffs on comfort food, from a decadent stufffed latke called the Goldbar to a matzo ball soup with carrot miso to a next-level relish tray.

Don’t miss the jiggly Rose Petal pie for dessert.

2421 Michigan Ave., 310-310-3616, or birdiegsla.com.

Full bar.

Broad Street Oyster Co. MALIBU » Seafood $$ If ever there was a car picnic scene, it’s at this openair spot overlooking Malibu Lagoon State Beach (and across from a SoulCycle, if we’re being honest). You can grab a great lobster roll (topped with uni or caviar if you’re feeling extra fancy), towers of raw seafood, great clam chowder, and a burger sprinkled with shio kombu (dried kelp) that shouldn’t be overlooked.

23359 Pacific Coast Hwy., 424-644-0131, or broad streetoyster.com. Beer and wine.

Cassia

SANTA MONICA » Southeast Asian $$$

Bryant Ng mines his Chinese Singaporean heritage, honors wife Kim’s Vietnamese background, and works in the wood-grilling technique he honed at Mozza at this grand Southeast Asian brasserie. Hunker down at a table on the patio—or treat yourself to some great takeout—to devour turmeric-marinated ocean trout or chickpea curry with scallion clay-oven bread. Wherever and however you enjoy Ng’s cooking, you won’t be disappointed. 1314 7th St., 310-3936699, or cassiala.com. Full bar.

Colapasta

SANTA MONICA » Italian $

It’s equally pleasant to grab and go or eat at this quiet, affordable spot that features fresh pastas topped with farmers’ market fare. The colorful, poppy-seed-sprinkled beet ravioli is delicate and deli-

102 L A M AG . C O M

T H E B R E A K D OW N W EST

Includes Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Century City, Culver City, Malibu, Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Palms, Santa Monica, Venice, West L.A., Westwood

DOWN TOWN DOWNTOWN

Includes Arts District, Bunker Hill, Chinatown, Historic Core, Little Tokyo, South Park

CEN TRAL CENT RAL

Includes Beverly Grove, East Hollywood, Fairfax District, Hancock Park, Hollywood, Koreatown, West Hollywood

EAST

Includes Atwater Village, Eagle Rock, East L.A., Echo Park, Glendale, Los Feliz, Pasadena, San Gabriel Valley, Silver Lake

T H E VALLEY

Includes Agoura Hills, Burbank, Calabasas, Encino, North Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Van Nuys

SOUT H

Includes Bell, Compton, Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, Torrance, Watts

Denotes restaurants with outdoor seating $ $$ $$$ $$$$

I N E X P E N S I V E (Meals under $10) M O D E R A T E (Mostly under $20) E X P E N S I V E (Mostly under $30) V E R Y E X P E N S I V E ($30 and above)

Price classifications are approximate and based on the cost of a typical main course that serves one.

For restaurants primarily offering multicourse family meals, the cost per person of such a meal is used.

In the current climate, restaurant hours are changing frequently. Check websites or social media accounts for the most current information

2021

cious, while the gramigna with pesto and ricotta is hearty and satisfying. 1241 5th St., 310-310-8336, or colapasta.com. Beer and wine.

Crudo e Nudo

SANTA MONICA » Seafood $$

Brian Bornemann, the 31-year-old former executive chef at Michael’s Santa Monica, has gone his own way. He and his girlfriend, Leena Culhane, have launched a sustainable neighborhood joint that’s by turns a coffee shop, a seafood market, and a casual restaurant where you can nibble impeccably prepared crudo, tuna tartare toasts, and vegan Caesar salads on the patio while sipping a thoughtfully selected natural wine. Though the project began as a pandemic pop-up, it’s now an exciting brick-and-mortar spot from one of the city’s most promising young toques.

2724 Main St., crudoenudo.com, or @crudo_e_nudo.

Beer and wine.

Dear John’s

CULVER CITY » Steak House $$$

There’s still good times and great food to be had at this former Sinatra hang stylishly revamped by Josiah Citrin and Hans Röckenwagner. Steak-house classics— crab Louie, oysters Rockefeller, thick prime steaks— pay homage to the lounge’s Rat Pack past and can be enjoyed on a sunny new patio or to go. 11208 Culver Blvd., 310-881-9288, or dearjohnsbar.com. Full bar.

Felix

VENICE » Italian $$$

At Evan Funke’s clubby, floral-patterned trattoria, the rigorous dedication to tradition makes for superb focaccia and pastas. The rigatoni cacio e pepe—tubes of pasta adorned only with Pecorino Romano cheese and black pepper—nods to Roman shepherds who used the spice to keep warm, while the rigatoni all’Amatriciana with cured pork cheek sings brilliantly alongside Italian country wines. 1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd., 424-387-8622, or felixla.com. Full bar.

Kato

SAWTELLE » Cal-Asian $$$

Jon Yao is now serving his acclaimed Taiwanese tasting menu outdoors. Dishes like 3 Cup Abalone and

AS H L E Y R A N DA L L P H OTO G R A P H Y

AUG

ho

Oysters on the half shell from Crudo e Nudo

Dungeness crab soup are just as revelatory alfresco.

At $118 for more than a dozen courses, Yao’s prix fixe menu is one of the best deals in town. 11925 Santa Monica Blvd., 424-535-3041, or katorestaurant.com.

any time of day. The culinary team includes h.wood’s Michael Teich and David Johns, along with Burt Bakman of the beloved barbecue joint Slab. 9876 Wilshire Blvd., 310-285-1260, santolinabh.com, or@santolinabh.

Full bar.

Mírame BEVERLY HILLS » Mexican $$$

Joshua Gil is cooking exciting, contemporary Mexican fare with market-driven ingredients and serving them on a stunning patio. Dishes are imaginative but not overly contrived—salmon-skin chicharrón with fermented garlic aioli; a divine slow-cooked Heritage Farms pork shoulder served with a black-lime gastrique, celtuce, and hearty, richly flavorful frijoles charros cooked with a pig’s head. The latter is available as part of Mírame’s to-go family meal, which includes house-made tortillas; a memorable riff on Caesar salad with pork chicharrón, roasted vegetables and goat cheese; chocolate flan; and an adorable little bottle of margaritas. At just $105 for two people, it’s an amazingly affordable way to sample Gil’s cooking.

419 N. Canon Dr. , 310-230-5035, mirame.la, or @mirame.la. Full bar.

Ospi VENICE » Italian $$$ Jackson Kalb’s sprawling new Italian joint brings bustle and outdoor tables to a corner on an otherwise quiet stretch. Pastas, including a spicy rigatoni alla vodka and raschiatelli with a pork rib ragù, are sublime, and most travel remarkably well if you’re looking to takeout, which is the only option for lunch. Roman-style pizzas boast a uniquely crispy, cracker-thin crust; to get the full crunch, have a slice as you drive your takeout home. 2025 Pacific Ave., 424-443-5007, ospivenice.com, or @ospiveni. Full bar.

Pasjoli SANTA MONICA » French $$$$

Dave Beran’s à la carte spot bucks the trends and eschews bistro clichés in favor of old-fashioned thrills— an elaborate pressed duck prepared just as Escoffier would have and served with potatoes au gratin dauphinois—and modern French fare. The showy duck must be reserved in advance as only a limited number of birds are available each night. But there are plenty of other exciting dishes on the menu, such as the chicken liver in brioche and a complex lobster, mussel, and clam bisque with shaved fennel and tarragon.

2732 Main St., 424-330-0020, or pasjoli.com. Full bar.

Pizzana BRENTWOOD » Italian $$

It’s not easy to make over the local pie joint, but 35-year-old chef Daniele Uditi has reimagined an urban standby with equal parts purism and playfulness that has become a neighborhood favorite in the process. Most impressive is the open-mindedness that has him deftly transforming the Roman pasta dish cacio e pepe into a pizza or putting a hearty short rib ragù on the Pignatiello pie. And in a real twist, appetizers and seasonal salads aren’t afterthoughts but highlights. Don’t miss specials, like an insane chicken parm sandwich. 11712 San Vicente Blvd., 310-481-7108, pizzana.com, or @pizzana. Also at 460 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, 310-657-4662.

Sant’olina BEVERLY HILLS » Mediterranean $$S

The buzzy h.wood Group has taken over the rooftop at the Beverly Hilton Hotel to launch this breezy pop-up that’s likely to become a permanent fixture. Tables with views are topped with blue-and-white linens, and the menu is full of crowd-pleasing dishes: babka french toast for brunch, harissa-cured salmon, a lamb burger for dinner, or various Middle Eastern dips for

BOOK IT » This is not your mother’s frozen fare:

Ali Rosen has fresh ideas about food storage in Modern Freezer Meals: Simple Recipes to Cook Now and Freeze Later (Skyhorse).

DOWNTOWN Angry Egret Dinette

tive city. Setting up shop in the deconsecrated St. Vibiana Cathedral offered an opportunity to add theatrics to a space that’s contemporary and classically plush and now boasts three distinct outdoor dining areas. A delicate curried carrot broth and beluga lentils transform slices of smoked tofu from wholesome to haute, while lamb belly spins on a spit in the former rectory. 114 E. 2nd St., 213-788-1191, or redbird.la. Full bar.

Sonoratown

CHINATOWN » Sandwiches $$

FASHION DISTRICT » Mexican $

Wes Avila has left Guerrilla Tacos and is focusing on torta-esque sandwiches at this heartfelt new venture.

Standouts include the Whittier Blvd: beef belly braised in star anise-laced lard for eight hours, then stuffed in a roll with horseradish cream, avocado, queso fresco, serrano chile, and red pepper escabeche. It’s hearty and decadent—especially if you opt to add a duck egg, which you should— but also wonderfully nuanced. There’s ample outdoor seating, but sandwiches with fried ingredients, like a veggie number, with squash blossom tempura, miraculously manage to remain crispy and travel well. 970 N. Broadway, Ste. 114, 213-278-0987, aedinette.com, or @angryegretdinette.

At this downtown spot known for its flour tortillas, you can order à la carte or opt for affordable familystyle takeout options to make your own tacos, burritos, or chimichangas filled with chorizo, carne asada, or mesquite-grilled chicken. Wash it all down with a six-pack of Tecate or seasonal aguas frescas. 208 E. 8th St., 213-628-3710, sonoratown.com, or @sonora townla. Beer.

Badmaash HISTORIC CORE » Indian $$

This Indian gastropub concept comes from the father-and-sons team of Pawan, Nakul, and Arjun Mahendro, who are all well versed in the culinary techniques of East and West. The menu features contemporary mash-ups, like a version of poutine smothered in chicken tikka, tandoori chicken wings, and a spicy lamb burger. If tradition’s your thing, you’ll be comforted by spice-stewed chickpeas, potato and pea samosas, and what they call Good Ol’ Saag Paneer.

Wash it all down with carefully curated, reasonably priced natural wines. 108 W. 2nd St., 213-221-7466, bad maashla.com, or @badmaashla. Beer and wine to go.

Also at 418 N. Fairfax Ave., Fairfax District, 213-281-5185.

Gamboge LINCOLN HEIGHTS

» Cambodian $

The Cambodian sandwiches known as numpang, which are somewhat similar to Vietnamese banh mi, are the speciality at this charming new deli. Crusty bolillo bread is a vessel for proteins like lemongrassmarinated pork shoulder or grilled trumpet mushrooms, along with condiments like Maggi mayo, chili jam, and carrot-and-papaya slaw. The menu is full of delights beyond sandwiches, including rice bowls; a great shredded chicken salad with cabbage, peanuts, and a citrus-and-fish-sauce dressing; and a memorable braised-sardines-and-tomato dish. Order food to go, or enjoy it on the sunny, succulent-dotted back patio. 1822 N. Broadway, gambogela.com, or @gambogela. Beer and wine.

Guerrilla Cafecito ARTS DISTRICT » Breakfast $-$$

This newish breakfast offshoot around the corner from Guerilla Tacos makes a perfectly balanced brekkie burrito that rivals the city’s long-established best.

The doughnuts are wonderfully not-too-sweet: a doughnut even a non-doughnut lover can love.

No wonder they often sell out. 704 Mateo St., 213-3753300, or guerrillacafecito.com.

Pearl River Deli CHINATOWN » Chinese $

Chef Johnny Lee has gained a reputation as a poultry wizard, and his succulent Hainan chicken is a highly sought-after dish. Sadly, he’s serving it only as an occasional weekend special at his tiny Far East Plaza takeout spot. But don’t despair: the ever-changing menu is full of winners, from a pork chop sandwich on a pineapple bun to a beefy, memorable rendition of mapo tofu. 727 N. Broadway, Ste. 130, 626-6889507, pearlriverdeli.com, or @prd_la.

Redbird HISTORIC CORE

» New American $$$$

Neal Fraser has defined his own kind of L.A. elegance over the 20 years he’s been cooking in his na-

Superfine Pizza FASHION DISTRICT » Pizza $

Get a quick taste of Rossoblu chef Steve Samson’s Italian-food mastery at his casual pizzeria, which serves both thin-crust slices and whole pies. The pepperoni always pleases, but the honey—with spicy salami, provolone, and Grana Padano—really thrills.

1101 S. San Pedro St., Ste. F, 323-698-5677, superfinepizza.com, or @superfinepizza.

CENTRAL Alta Adams WEST ADAMS » California Soul Food $$

Riffing on his grandmother’s recipes, Watts native Keith Corbin loads up his gumbo with market veggies and enlivens his collard greens with a smoked oil.

Soul food in this city is too often associated with Styrofoam containers, but this verdant patio, is a lovely place to linger. Hot sauce splashed onto skillet-fried chicken is pure pleasure, enhanced by a bourbon drink the bar tints with roasted peanuts and huckleberries. Finish the night by taking on a heroic wedge of coconut cake. 5359 W. Adams Blvd., 323-571-4999, or altaadams.com. Full bar.

Antico Nuovo LARCHMONT VILLAGE » Italian $$

Chef Chad Colby smartly converted his East Larchmont Italian restaurant into a takeout spot for foccacia pizzas and ice cream, fashioning a makeshift pizza oven with the plancha top that used to sit on the restaurant’s hearth. The ice cream has a wonderfully smooth texture, and the flavors are spot-on. The honeycomb and strawberry have garnered a lot of praise since the restaurant opened in 2019—and rightly so— but Colby has regularly been introduing new flavors like cookies-and-cream and pistachio. 4653 Beverly Blvd., 323-510-3093, anticonuovo-la.com, or anticonuovo_la. Wine to go.

A.O.C. BEVERLY GROVE » California $$$

Unforced and driven by culinary excellence, A.O.C. is anchored by a courtyard with soft sunlight and laurel trees. Caroline Styne’s wine list doesn’t shy away from the ecology of vineyards, while Suzanne Goin’s cooking has become indispensable. Carefully constructed salads showcase vegetables at their best, and the roasted chicken with panzanella is both an homage to San Francisco’s Zuni Café and a classic in and of itself. 8700 W. 3rd St., 310-859-9859, or aocwine bar.com. Full bar.

Brandoni Pepperoni WEST HOLLYWOOD » Pizza $$ Six nights a week, Brandon Gray turns out some of L.A.’s most exciting pizzas. Gray, a veteran of Navy kitchens and top local restaurants like Providence, brings boundless imagination to his pies. They’re topped with premium ingredients—Jidori chicken, Sungold tomatoes, Spanish octopus—in exciting combinations. A curry-Dijonnaise dressing renders a side

L A M AG . C O M 103

salad surprisingly memorable. 5881 Saturn St., Faircrest Heights, 323-306-4968, or brandoni-pepperoni.com.

Wine to go.

Gigi’s

HOLLYWOOD MEDIA DISTRICT » French $$$

With its sceney Sycamore Avenue location and gorgeous, illustration-lined interiors, Gigi’s could easily succeed with subpar fare. But chef Matt Bollinger’s bistro classics—like curry mussels, steak tartare, and roasted chicken—are done quite well, if priced rather high. The wine list from beverage director Kristin Olszewski, an Osteria Mozza alum, is surprisingly interesting, with various natural and biodynamic options on offer. 904. N. Sycamore Ave., gigis.la, or @gigis_la.

Full bar.

Hanchic

KOREATOWN » Korean $$

This new K-town spot infuses Korean dishes with Italian elements to create uniquely craveable dishes. Tagliatelle is tossed with kimchi and pork. A decadent spin on mac ’n’ cheese features both Korean rice cakes and elbow pasta coated in tangy Mornay sauce that’s been infused with fermented soybean paste. 2500 W. 8th St., Ste. 103, hanchic.com or hanchic.la.

Harold & Belle’s JEFFERSON PARK » Southern Creole $$ For Creole-style food—a mélange of French, African,

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and Native American flavors—Harold & Belle’s is as close to the Dirty Coast as you’ll come on the West Coast. The crawfish étouffée in spicy gravy will have you humming zydeco, while the bourbon bread pudding will leave you with a Sazerac-worthy buzz. 2920 W. Jefferson Blvd., 323-735-9023, or haroldand belles.com. Full bar.

Lalibela

FAIRFAX DISTRICT » Ethiopian $-$$

The strip of Fairfax known as Little Ethiopia has long been dominated by the same handful of restaurants.

Chef-owner Tenagne Belachew worked in a few of them before opening her own sophisticated haven, which invites with the swirling aromas of berbere and burning sage. Stretchy disks of injera—the sour, teffflour pancake that doubles as a utensil for scooping up food by hand—arrive piled with uniquely pungent delights. There are wots, or stews, made with chicken or spiced legumes or lamb sautéed in a creamy sauce.

1025 S. Fairfax Ave., 323-965-1025, or lalibelala.com.

Beer and wine.

Luv2Eat Thai Bistro HOLLYWOOD » Thai $$ Vibrant flavors and spices abound at this strip-mall favorite from two Phuket natives. The crab curry, with a whole crustacean swimming in a creamy pool of deliciousness, is not to be missed (it travels surprisingly well), but the expansive menu is full of winners, from the massaman curry to the Thai fried chicken with sticky rice and sweet pepper sauce. 6660 W. Sunset Blvd., 323-498-5835, luv2eatthai.com, or @luv2eat.thaibistro.

n/soto

WEST ADAMS » Japanese $$$$

N/naka chefs Niki Nakayama and Carol IidaNakayama have expanded. To start, n/soto was focused on offering elaborate bento boxes from a to-go window,

Freedom should be free.

but the duo have plans to turn it into a bustling izakaya with indoor and outdoor seating as the city opens up. For now, the bento boxes make for takeout that is both delicious and high-minded. The first box on offer was called A Taste of Home and told the story of Japanese immigrants coming to America via nearly two dozen dishes, from beef sukiyaki to pressed-mackerel sushi. It makes for a special evening in, if you’re lucky enough to score one. Preorders go live on Tock every Friday at noon and tend to sell out quickly. 4566 W. Washington Blvd., 323-879-9455 , n-soto.com.

Osteria Mozza/Mozza2Go

HANCOCK PARK » Italian $$$

Nancy Silverton aims for end-times elegance with a parking lot that’s been transformed into a piazza where you can spend an evening nibbling on pastas, pizzas, and thoughtful salads from Mozza, Chi Spacca, and Pizzeria Mozza. Mozza2Go’s expansive menu is heavy on the pizzas, with an $85 five-pizza package that’s a steal.

Don’t miss the Spacca burgers, offered only on the weekends, for takeout and delivery only. Osteria: 6602 Melrose Ave., 323-297-0100, or osteriamozza.com. Full bar. Pizzeria: 641 N. Highland Ave., 323-297-0101, or pizzeriamozza.com. Beer and wine.

République

HANCOCK PARK » Cal-French $$$

République may be devoted to French food, but its soul is firmly rooted in Californian cuisine. Walter Manzke is as skilled at making potato and leek beignets as he is at roasting cauliflower and local dates. Meanwhile, Margarita Manzke’s breads and pastries are always spot-on. Like a fine wine, this classic L.A. restaurant just gets better and better. 624 S. La Brea Ave., 310362-6115, or republiquela.com. Full bar.

Ronan

FAIRFAX DISTRICT » Cal-Italian $$

At Daniel and Caitlin Cutler’s chic pizzeria, the pies—

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especially the How ‘Nduja Like It? with spicy sausage, gorgonzola crema, green onion, and celery—are the clear stars, but it’s a big mistake not to explore the entire menu. It’s filled with delicious delights, from cacio e pepe risotto to a sea bass served with an everchanging assortment of banchan. 7315 Melrose Ave., 323-917-5100, ronanla.com, or @ronan_la. Full bar.

and chef Ari Kolender’s seafood dishes still thrill when taken to go or enjoyed on the restaurant’s “boat deck.” The scallop tostada with yuzu kosho and basil is a must-order, and a bisque sauce takes the basic lobster roll to new heights. Interesting, affordable wines add to the fun. 4880 Fountain Ave., 323-486-7920, foundoyster.com, or @foundoyster. Wine and beer.

Slab BEVERLY GROVE » Barbecue $$

Hungry diners used to line up in the driveway of Burt Bakman’s home, desperate for a taste of his famous smoked barbecue meats. In 2018, Bakman came up from the underground, opening a sleek storefront that’s now filling to-go orders for hearty fare, from perfectly marbled brisket to pulled-pork sandwiches and collard greens. You can even get a six-pack of Bud Light. 8136 W. 3rd. St., 310-855-7184, slabbarbecue.com, or @slab. Beer and wine.

Son of a Gun BEVERLY GROVE » Seafood $$

Florida-raised chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo deliver a certain brand of sun-drenched seashore nostalgia. Dropping into the nautically themed dining room for chilled peel-and-eat shrimp and a hurricane feels as effortless as dipping your toes in the sand. There are buttery lobster rolls and fried-chicken sandwiches alongside artfully plated crudos. 8370 W. 3rd St., 323-782-9033, or sonofagunrestaurant .com. Full bar.

EAST All Day Baby SILVER LAKE » Eclectic $$ Jonathan Whitener’s Here’s Looking At You is, sadly, closed, but his thrilling cooking continues on a bustling Eastside corner. Whether you opt for smoked spare ribs, a hot catfish sandwich, or a breakfast sandwich on pastry chef Thessa Diadem’s sublime biscuits, it’s all great. 3200 W. Sunset Blvd., 323-741-0082, alldaybabyla.com, or @alldaybabyla.

Bar Restaurant SILVER LAKE » French $$$

Chef Douglas Rankin, who worked under Ludo Lefebvre for years, struck out on his own with this charming “neo bistro” in the old Malo space in Sunset Junction. The menu features playful Gallic-ish fare, like curly fries and plump mussels Dijon atop milk toast; classic cocktails; and plenty of funky wines available by the glass. A large parking-lot seating area has huge plants, twinkling lights, and good vibes. Somehow it manages to feel both festive and safe. 4326 W. Sunset Blvd., 323-347-5557.

Full bar.

Daybird WESTLAKE » Fried Chicken $

This long-anticipated casual chicken concept from Top Chef winner and Nightshade toque Mei Lin is finally open, and it was worth the wait. Lin separates her hot poultry sandwich from the flock of others in the city, thanks to uniquely crispy fried chicken that’s dusted with a memorable, Sichuan-peppercornheavy spice blend. A spicy slaw and habanero ranch dipping sauce add to the fun. 240 N. Virgil Ave., Ste. 5, daybirdla.com, or @daybirdla.

Eszett SILVER LAKE » Eclectic $$

This stylish, cozy wine bar brings warm hospitality to the strip-mall space formerly occupied by Trois Familia. Chef Spencer Bezaire’s menu deftly brings in flavors from around the globe without feeling overly contrived. Chicken wings are accompanied by salsa macha, grilled Broccolini is dusted with furikake. Don’t miss the big fries. 3510 W. Sunset Blvd., 323-522-6323, or eszettla.com. Wine and beer.

Found Oyster EAST HOLLYWOOD » Seafood $$$

This tiny oyster bar was a pre-pandemic favorite,

NATALE E T H A I

C U I S I N E

Hippo HIGHLAND PARK » Cal-Italian $$

Hidden in a wood-trussed dining room behind Triple Beam Pizza, this Cal-Ital restaurant from Mozza vet Matt Molina balances casual and refined. Snappy wax beans are sluiced with vinaigrette for a picnic-worthy salad. Great pastas and juicy grilled chicken thighs deliver the unfussy pleasure found at the best neighborhood spots. Eclectic regular specials like haute corn dogs add to the fun.

5916 ½ N. Figueroa St., 323-545-3536, or hippo restaurant.com. Full bar.

Maury’s Bagels SILVER LAKE » Bagels $ East Coast transplant Jason Kaplan spent a decade in L.A. before deciding he had to take matters into his own hands if he wanted a great bagel in this town. He started out as a pop-up at farmers’ markets and coffee shops, but his appropriately modestly sized, delightfully chewy bagels and quality smoked fish now have a brick-and-mortar location. On a quiet Eastside corner next door to Psychic Wines, it’s quite charming. 2829 Bellevue Ave., 323- 380-9380, maurysbagels.com, or @maurys_losangeles.

Northern Thai Food Club EAST HOLLYWOOD » Thai $ Offering specialty dishes unique to northern Thailand, this family-run favorite doesn’t skimp on flavor, spice, or authenticity. Tasty takeout meals include the khao soi gai (curry egg noodle with chicken), laab moo kua (minced pork), tam kha noon (jackfruit salad), and pla salid tod (fried gourami fish). For those unfamiliar with the region’s distinct cuisine, the illustrious sticky rice is still a reliable bet. Need more incentive? Everything on the menu is less than $10.

5301 Sunset Blvd., 323-474-7212, or amphai northernthaifood.com.

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Saso PASADENA

» Spanish $$$

The arrival of this splashy new spot suggests that the good times might soon be here again. It shares a charming, sprawling courtyard with the Pasadena Playhouse, and the seafood-heavy menu from chef Dominique Crisp, who previously worked at L&E Oyster Bar, begs for reuniting with friends on nice summer nights. Orange zest enlivens jamon iberico crudite, while miso butter takes grilled oysters to new heights. 37 S. El Molino Ave., 626-808-4976, sasobistro.com, or @sasobistro. Full bar.

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Sōgo Roll Bar » Sushi $$

LOS FELIZ

So- go is hardly the only concept in town devoted to rolls, but it has mastered the form. Rice is cooked with the same careful consideration and seasoning that sushi master Kiminobu Saito uses at the highend Sushi Note, and it manages to maintain a great temperature and texture, even when being delivered. Fish is not just fresh but also flavorful, each type thoughtfully paired with ideal accompaniments, from a tangy yuzu-pepper sauce that makes salmon sing to brandy-soaked albacore with garlicginger ponzu and crispy onions. 4634 Hollywood Blvd., 323-741-0088, sogoroll bar.com, or @sogorollbar. Beer and sake.

Spoon & Pork SILVER LAKE » Filipino $$

The go-to for Filipino comfort food offers a variety of dishes, all featuring one shared ingredient: deliciousness. Spoon & Pork puts an innovative spin on some Filipino favorites—just try its adobo pork belly, pork belly banh mi, or lechón kawali. The dishes, which can be ordered at the counter to enjoy on the

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Sunset Sushi SILVER LAKE » Japanese $$$ With omakase boxes priced from $30 to $85, this new sushi place in the old Ma’am Sir space strikes the sweet spot between affordable and indulgent and is another exciting addition to the Eastside’s growing number of quality sushi options. It’s a sister spot to Highland Park’s Ichijiku, but with a more luxe vibe and a larger menu, tailor-made for takeout. 4330 W. Sunset Blvd., 323-741-8371, sunsetsushila.com, or @sunsetsushi. Beer and sake to go.

Union PASADENA

» Italian $$$

The food shines at this cozy trattoria just off Pasade-

C H E F FAVO R I T E S C H R I S K E YS E R

UNION AND U STREET PIZZA

FISH & CHIPS TOM BERGIN’S If you’re going to have fish-and-chips in L.A., this is the one to have. The cod is always fresh, never frozen, and they use a local lager in the batter. It’s simply great. $19. 840 S. Fairfax Ave., Miracle Mile, tombergins.com.

SMOKED BEETROOT TARTARE KALI This is one of my favorite dishes in L.A. They shave the beets kind of like sauerkraut, marinate them in black garlic and vinegar, and then serve them with crème fraîche and home-

made sourdough toasts. It hits all the notes: fatty from the crème fraîche, acid from the vinegar. $16. 5722 Melrose Ave., Larchmont, kalirestaurant.com.

CRISPY PROVOLONE OSPI They just slice a log of provolone, and then bread and fry the pieces and serve them with their vodka sauce. It’s the most satisfying thing at the end of a day.

You don’t taste the vodka, but it enhances the sweet flavor of the tomatoes and the sharpness of the cheese. $16. 2025 Pacific Ave., Venice, ospivenice.com.

na’s main drag. Chef Chris Keyser, an acolyte of Philadelphia pasta maestro Marc Vetri, joined in 2019, keeping classics, like a great cacio e pepe, on the menu while adding his own dishes, such as a thrilling crispy octopus appetizer. Most of the eat-in menu is also available to go, and family-style meals for four are also available. The pastas all impress, but don’t miss the wild mushrooms and polenta with a sublimely delicious sherry vinegar and truffle butter sauce. 37 E. Union St., 626-795-5841, unionpasadena .com, or @unionpasadena. Wine.

THE VALLEY Black Market Liquor Bar STUDIO CITY » New American $$ Some nights it seems as if half the Valley is here, enjoying the colorful patio. Top Chef graduate Antonia Lofaso’s Italian chops are visible in the buxom ricotta gnudi with brown butter and pistachios. The deepfried fluffernutter sandwich is a reminder that food, like life, should not be taken too seriously. 11915 Ventura Blvd., 818-446-2533, or blackmarketliquor bar.com. Full bar.

The Brothers Sushi » Sushi $$$

WOODLAND HILLS

This hidden gem, reinvigorated when chef Mark Okuda took the helm in 2018, is worth traveling for.

Keep spirits up with the Hand-Roll Party home kits (there’s even one for kids), or splurge on an omakase that can be enjoyed on the patio or to go. You can also order à la carte or get non-sushi items like soy-glazed grilled chicken. 21418 Ventura Blvd., 818-456-4509, thebrotherssushi.com, or @thebrotherssushila.

Beer, wine, and sake.

Casa Vega SHERMAN OAKS

» Mexican $

The Vega family’s 64-year-old institution has put up a massive tent in its parking lot to keep the margaritas flowing amidst COVID-19 restrictions.

And if you prefer takeout, there’s a drive-through setup that makes it easy to pick up a plate of enchiladas or a hulking “oven-style” burrito topped with enchilada sauce and melted cheese. The expansive menu has a great selection of hearty crowd-pleasers, cocktails, and tequilas. You might leave tipsy, but you’ll never go hungry. 13301 Ventura Blvd., 818-788-4868, or casavega.com. Full bar.

Hank’s BURBANK

Fishing With Dynamite » Seafood $$$

MANHATTAN BEACH

A premium raw bar near the beach shouldn’t be unusual, but it is. The same goes for velvety clam chowder. Here, it achieves smoky richness—you can thank the Nueske’s bacon for that—without any of the floury glop. On the menu, you’ll find several kinds of oysters from across the country, Peruvian scallops, and Alaskan king crab legs.

1148 Manhattan Ave., 310-893-6299, or eatfwd .com. Full bar.

Hotville BALDWIN HILLS CRENSHAW

» Fried chicken $

After three years of running a pop-up, Kim Prince has opened a brick-and-mortar that does her family’s legacy justice—she’s the niece of André Prince Jeffries, owner of Nashville legend Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, where hot fried chicken is said to have originated.

Prince adds spice at every step in the cooking process to produce a complex, layered flavor. The sides ($5 and up), like spicy mac and cheese and kale coleslaw, are also winners. 4070 Marlton Ave., 323-792-4835, or hotvillechicken.com. No alcohol.

Little Coyote LONG BEACH » Pizza $ That most amazing slice of pizza you had that one, very drunken, late night in your early twenties in New York lives on . . . in Long Beach. The crust, made with dough cold-fermented for 48 to 72 hours, is carby perfection: tangy, crispy, thin but with a healthy puff. The concise menu doesn’t offer any revelations about what should be atop pizza, but instead perfects the usual suspects: pepperoni comes in generous quantities, tiny porky cups glistening with grease; a veggie supreme transcends the usual half-cooked-produce mediocrity of the form. This is pizza worth driving south for. 2118 E. 4th St., 562434-2009, littlecoyotelbc.com, or @littlecoyotelbc.

Little Sister REDONDO BEACH » Asian Fusion $$

Chef and co-owner Tin Vuong deftly translates the flavors of Vietnam for a casual drinking scene. Nibble on fresh spring rolls with shrimp, pork, and a peanut dipping sauce, then wash it all down with a craft beer or three. 247 Avenida del Norte, 424-398-0237, or dinelittlesister.com. Beer, wine, and sake.

M.B. Post » Bagels $

The L.A. bagel revolution continues at this stylish spot in the Valley that serves up carefully constructed sandwiches. Tomato, aioli, and maple-glazed bacon elevate a simple bacon, egg, and cheese, while a classic salmon-and-lox construction has thoughtful touches like salted cucumbers and pickled onions.

Sammies shine with plain cream cheese, but it’s worth grabbing a tub of Hank’s “angry” spread—a spicy, slightly sweet concoction—to have in your fridge. And no cream cheese is needed for Hank’s everything jalapeno-cheddar bagel, a stunning gut bomb. 4315 Riverside Dr., 818-588-3693, hanksbagels .com, or @hanksbagels. Also at 13545 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks.

SOUTH Ali’i Fish Company » Seafood $$

EL SEGUNDO

This small, unassuming spot shames all of the glossy poke purveyors popping up around town to serve mediocre versions of the Hawaiian dish. Glistening cubes of tuna, flown in fresh from the islands daily, remind you how great poke can be. Even a vegan poke, with tofu and sea asparagus, manages to satisfy. If you’re not looking to go raw, there are various salmon and tuna burgers to choose from, and the smoked-ahi dip with house-made potato chips is not to be missed. Perfect for picking up a

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beach picnic. 409 E. Grand Ave., 310-616-3484, or aliifishco.com.

MANHATTAN BEACH » New American $$

David LeFevre (the Arthur J, Fishing With Dynamite) cuts a swath through genres and latitudes with the gusto of someone who’s clearly pleased to be at the stove. He sears Scottish salmon with roasted garlic puree, sugar snap peas, truffle vinaigrette, and charred scallions. There’s plenty of wordplay on the menu (“Meat Me Later”), but no pun can do justice to his bacon-cheddar biscuits with maple butter. 1142 Manhattan Ave., 310-545-5405, or eatmb post.com. Full bar.

Tamales Elena Y Antojitos BELL GARDENS

» Afro-Mexican $

This small spot, with counter service, a drivethrough window, and a patio purports to be the only Afro-Mexican restaurant in the area. It focuses on a distinct cuisine from a part of Guerrero to which former slaves fled. Pozoles are rich and slightly thick, and the memorable pork tamales with red sauce are wrapped in fire-tinged banana leaves that impart a hint of smoke. 81801 Garfield Ave., 562-0674-3043, ordertamaleselenayanto jitos.com, or @tamaleselenayantojitos.

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R O B L ATO U R

patio or for takeout and delivery, elegantly mix decadence with some authentic soul. 3131 W. Sunset Blvd., 323-922-6061, spoonandpork.com, or @spoonandporkla. Beer and wine.

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2021 TOP DENTISTS ENDODONTICS Michael Alfandari Agoura Hills Endodontics 805-319-4455 Rambod Alirezaei Brentwood Endodontics 310-207-3707 Paul Anstey Paul Anstey, DDS 310-777-8382 Narbeh Bandary Sherman Oaks Endodontics 818-783-5234 Shahriyar Banihashemi Shahriyar Banihashemi, DDS 818-766-6126 Emad Bassali Emad Bassali, D.D.S., Inc. 818-789-2200 Rohit Batheja Lakewood Dental Arts 562-384-1091 Samir Batniji Samir Batniji, D.D.S. & Associates 909-396-9944 Raaed Batniji Samir Batniji, D.D.S. & Associates 909-396-9944 James Beller James D. Beller, DDS 818-992-3355 1LɈ )LYSPU Advanced Endodontics of Beverly Hills 310-855-0444 Samantha Besser 7LYZVUHS +LU[HS 6ѝJL 323-933-4444

Selina Chan RC Dental Care 909-989-7888 Andy Chang Andy H. Chang, DDS 626-844-3636 Irene Chang Irene C. Chang, D.D.S., M.S., Inc. 626-577-0114 Nadia Chugal UCLA School of Dentistry 310-794-4989 Artin Davoodian Burbank Endodontics 818-559-2400 Maz Ebrahimi Maz Endodontics 310-248-3636 Peter Endo Peter Endo, D.D.S. 310-791-7662 Hiri Etessami Advanced & Surgical Endodontics 310-550-0506 Ahmad Fahid Beverly Hills Innovative Endodontics 310-274-9288 Arthur Gage Gage Endodontics 562-420-0440 Jason Gee Synergy Dental Specialists 760-340-3341 Pedro Gonzalez Downtown Endodontics 213-481-1155 Alexander Hakim Brentwood Endodontics 310-826-4676

Lyla Boustani Dental Specialty Center 818-980-0998

Eddie Harouni Eddie Harouni, DDS, Inc. 310-209-5050

Lawrence Brockman Lawrence A. Brockman, DMD 310-393-0743

Armen Hartoonian Pasadena Microscopic Endodontics 626-440-0117

Manuel Bustamante Manuel A. Bustamante, D.D.S. 310-473-5559

Edon Hirt Aesthetic Dental & Specialty Center 661-290-2825

Andrea Holstein Eddie Harouni, DDS, Inc. 310-209-5050

Fred Monempour Fred Monempour, D.D.S 310-278-5993

Richard Rauth Santa Monica Endodontics 310-393-9733

Yoo Huh Cal Dental Group 323-934-2804

Todd Nakata Ellis Endodontics 310-325-3100

Thomas Jovicich West Valley Endodontic Group 818-986-6777

Vinh-Thy Nguyen Riverside Plaza Dentistry 951-228-9576

Deema Saad Sherman Oaks Endodontics 818-783-5234

Rambod Kamrava Rambod Kamrava, D.D.S. 818-981-8115

Nooshin Noghreian South Bay Endodontics 310-375-1200

Valerie Kanter Integrative Endodontics 424-341-3028 David Kelliny Kelliny Endodontics 310-793-2020

Ramin Noghreian South Bay Endodontics 310-375-1200 Nishan Odabashian Glendale Micro Endodontics 818-552-3636

Bernice Ko Bernice T. Ko, DDS 310-473-2120

.LVɈYL` 6RHKH .LVќYL` ; 6RHKH DDS, MS 818-843-0668

Keith Komatsu Keith Komatsu D.D.S. 310-375-8012

Lewis Overbey Lewis H. Overbey, DDS 310-273-7977

1LɈYL` 2V[Z\IV 1LќYL` 4 2V[Z\IV DDS, Inc. 310-458-6677

James Pappas Pappas & Pappas Family Dentistry & Endodontics 626-441-2975

Ray Kuwahara Torrance Endodontic Center 310-378-8342 Jung Lim Synergy Endodontics 760-340-3341 Kwor Loo Whittier Dental Specialists Center 562-698-7925 Clark Martin Martin Endodontics 310-807-2845 Afshin Mazdeyasnan Mid Valley Endodontics 818-885-3636 Phillip Min American Association of Endodontists 213-383-6363 Sonia Molina Molina Endodontics 562-904-1807

Pejman Parsa West LA Endodontics 424-369-5160 Alex Parsi Los Angeles Endodontics & Implant Specialists 213-291-7358 Tushar Patel Arrow Endodontics 909-394-5500 Jose Perea Perea Endodontics 310-207-2272 David Pokras Southern California Endodontic Group 805-494-3772 John Pratte John E. Pratte, DDS 818-952-6762 Thomas Rauth Santa Monica Endodontics 310-393-9733

Younes Safa Pasadena Endodontix 626-304-3636 Bradley Seto Santa Monica Endodontics 310-393-9733 Brandon Seto Santa Monica Endodontics 310-393-9733 Richard Sprague Root Canal Man 424-653-9729 Douglas Szeto Izadi & Szeto & Associates 949-305-0202 Nadia Tabachnik Westwood Dental Smiles 424-276-0915 Sony Thomas Arcadia Endodontics 626-446-8889 Fred Tsutsui Fred S. Tsutsui, DMD, Inc. 310-791-1790 Nicole Vu Pasadena Endodontix 626-304-3636 Fanny Yacaman Fanny Yacaman, DDS 310-248-2336

GENERAL DENTISTRY Lilia Agadganian Lilia Agadganian DDS, Inc. 310-652-8877 Constancia Angeles Constancia Angeles, D.M.D. 213-482-9219 Clarisse Atakhanian Clarisse Atakhanian DDS, Inc. 818-483-9071 Jacklyn Azarian Dental Care Studios 818-240-3700 Michael Aznavour AG Dental Studio 818-532-5565 Nanette Baird Nanette Baird, D.M.D. 213-483-8164 Bruce Beard Complete Health Dentistry 818-483-4388 Steven Bergara Steven R. Bergara, DDS 626-317-8702 Myron Bromberg Myron J. Bromberg DDS 818-345-3366 Gregory Brooks Gregory M. Brooks, DDS 818-843-4322 Ryan Candelora C&K General & Aesthetic Dentistry 818-240-7040 Kenneth Chan Healthy Smile Family Dentistry 626-799-8068

Joshua Yadegar Beverly Hills Endodontics 310-299-8286

Wayman Chan San Gabriel Dental Group 626-286-8600

John Yu EndoCare Center 626-678-0167

Richard Chang Evergreen Dental Care 626-285-0285

Stefan Zweig Stefan I. Zweig, DDS 626-799-4115

Kenneth Cheng New Image Dental Care 626-445-9660 L A M AG . C O M 1 1 1

2021 TOP DENTISTS James Cho Harvard Dental Center 213-380-3016

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James Feng Downtown Smile Design 213-488-0174

Brandon Ho Kenneth Ho, DDS, Inc. Brandon Ho, DDS 818-790-3923

Suren Chtchyan Suren Chtchyan, DDS, MD 323-665-9693

Rachel Fine Rachel Fine DMD 818-242-1706

Annabella Chu Annabella B. Chu, DMD, Inc. 213-413-4444

Shaun Flynn Advanced Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry 323-406-1228

Kenneth Ho Kenneth Ho, DDS, Inc. Brandon Ho, DDS 818-790-3923

Kathleen Clemans Kathleen Clemans, D.D.S. 310-479-1717

Joni Forge Overhill Dental 323-296-6180

Gaby Cosgrove Gaby R. Cosgrove, DMD 310-246-0444 John Dang Ocean View Dental Group 310-231-5100 Lan Dao Monrovia Dental Care 626-359-8300 David Davoodpour David Davoodpour, D.D.S. 310-477-4214

James Formaker James W. Formaker, DDS 818-766-7645 Robert Gandin Albert R. Silvera, DDS 310-274-0505 (KHT .HYÄURSL .HYÄURSL -HTPS` +LU[HS 818-532-2977 4PUK` .HYÄURSL .HYÄURSL -HTPS` +LU[HS 818-532-2977 Timothy Gogan Larchmont Smile 323-469-6269

Lela Dekanosidze Lela Dekanosidze, DDS 310-275-1137

Randall Gordon Randall Gordon, D.M.D. 310-473-6060

Patrick Dillon Patrick H. Dillon DDS, PC 310-475-0617

Joel Gould Modern American Dentistry 310-640-0967

Michael Duncker Dr. Michael C. Duncker Family and Cosmetic Dentistry 562-923-4538 ;PɈHU` +\ZOHUL Dushane Dental Arts 310-739-1113 Andre Eliasian Elite Dental Group 818-649-1772 Joseph Elmassian Joseph A. Elmassian, DDS 626-798-1181

Steven Greco Steven M. Greco, DDS 310-273-3993 Michelle Grosleib Valley Village Dental 818-763-8999 James Grosleib Valley Village Dental 818-763-8999 Tracy Ha Healthy Smile Family Dentistry 626-799-8068 George Hanna Inspired Smiles 323-660-8088

Maxima Ernacio Maxima Ernacio, DMD 213-483-8756

Mahrou Hazeghi Plaza Dental 213-626-6161

Daniel Estacio Dr. Daniel T. Estacio, D.D.S. 818-247-3387

Kerri Hill The Art of Dental Wellness 424-252-8959

1 1 2 L A M AG . C O M

Karen Ho Palm View Dental 626-782-7200 Vanessa Ho Vanessa Ho, DDS 818-842-7141 Charles Huang River Dentistry 213-486-0006 Amin Javid Promenade Dentistry 661-222-2242 Tian Jin Dentex Dental Studio 626-500-1599 Jaikrishnan Kakanar Jaikrishnan R. Kakanar, DDS 818-280-8849 Sako Karakozian Dental Design Studio City 818-538-8899 Altina Karimyan Pasadena Family, Cosmetic & Implant Dentistry 626-304-3004 Sarkis Keshishyan Kay Dental Group 818-502-4840 Victor Khatchaturian Sunset Dental Studio 310-299-9532 Soheil Khodadadi Soheil Khodadadi, DDS 310-271-3003 Sonia Khullar Sonia Khullar, DDS 213-389-2625 Robert Kimura Robert T. Kimura, DMD, Inc. 310-207-6111 Taline Kotchounian Dental Design Studio City 818-538-8899 Farhad Lalezarzadeh Cuzcatlan Dentistry 323-923-3710

VICTOR KHATCHATURIAN, DDS Cosmetic Dentistry Sunset Dental Studio 9201 W. Sunset Blvd., Suite 708 West Hollywood, CA 90069 310.499.4534 sunsetdentalstudio.

com

Brittany Lamoureux Brittany Lamoureux 818-706-0975 Les Latner Westside Dental Associates 310-907-7987 Chan Lee Chan Y. Lee, DDS 213-383-2466 Steve Lee Pomona Dental Group 909-626-3541 Brian LeSage Beverly Hills Institute of Dental Esthetics 310-982-4892 George Lim George Lim Dental, DMD, Inc. 310-391-7173 Ivan Lozano Ivan Lozano, DDS 310-540-9868 Jon Marashi Dr. Jon Marashi 310-820-0300

Lane Ochi Lane M. Ochi, DDS 310-275-4491

Richard Silvera Richard Silvera, DDS 310-589-3795

Min Hee Oh Avenue Dental 213-419-5500

Joseph Simaie Joseph R. Simaie, DDS 310-550-6223

Brian Okamoto Brian T. Okamoto, DDS 310-370-2547

Michael Simon Michael Simon, DDS 310-377-4666

Jennifer Oliveira Jennifer Oliveira, D.D.S. 310-315-3676

Han Tak Dental Arts Dentistry 213-624-6482

Alvina Padua Dr. Alvina Padua 626-462-1477 Ani Pilikyan Ani Pilikyan, DDS 213-627-9700

Tod Wakamatsu Tod H. Wakamatsu, D.D.S. 213-626-0561

Janette Pinedo Janette Pinedo, D.D.S. & Associates, INC. 310-530-8800

Chuck Wang Sheerin & Wang Dentistry 310-274-6089

Rosemarie QuimsonCruz Dr. Rosemarie Quimson-Cruz, D.M.D., Inc. 323-660-6674

Keith Watanabe Keith T. Watanabe, D.D.S. 213-626-0561

Anjali Rajpal Beverly Hills Dental Arts 310-273-1199 Alessandra Raschkovsky Zen Dental 213-623-1129 Laurence Rifkin Dr. Laurence Rifkin 310-273-0200 Ariel Rodriguez Starland Dentistry 818-243-4287 Shawn Saidian Century City Smiles & Orthodontics 310-552-2724

Lilia Martinez Lilia E. Martinez, DDS 213-484-1500

Abdi Sameni WLA Dental Center 310-312-0882

Marilou Mercado-Ulit Dr. Marilou Mercado-Ulit 213-413-8766

James Segulyev Chan & Segulyev A Dental Corporation 818-846-6464

Matt Nejad Helm Nejad Stanley Dentistry in Beverly Hills 310-278-0440 Robert Nishikawa Robert S. Nishikawa, DDS 310-553-7643

Michael Thai Arcadia Dentaldontics 626-445-3550

Terry Wheeler Wheeler Dental Professionals 310-539-8616 Grant Willcox Grant R. Willcox, DDS, Inc. 626-449-2996 Gary Wirtschafter Gary Wirtschafter, DDS 310-839-8033 Perry Wong Perry Wong, DDS 310-474-6802 Anthony Yamada Anthony R. Yamada, DDS 310-546-2595 Rex Yanase Yanase Dental Group 310-736-1063 Jessie Yang Palm View Dental 626-782-7200 Nader Yermian Vicente Dental 310-207-2060

Thomas Shinmoto Thomas H. Shinmoto, D.D.S. 213-617-2344

9Hɉ @LZZH`HU[a Hillside Dental Group 818-243-5888

Albert Silvera Albert R. Silvera, DDS. 310-274-0505

Michael Yung Michael S. Yung, DDS 626-210-0409

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION Lawrence Zabner Lawrence Zabner, DMD 818-766-5246 Alan Zabolian Samaritan Dental Arts 213-986-2933

ORAL & MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY Tara Aghaloo UCLA Health Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery 310-825-0834 J. Arce J.E. Arce, D.D.S. 310-421-4412 Yervant Aslanian Advanced Implant & Oral Surgery 818-247-3317 Cynthia Au Yeung Burbank City Dental 818-579-9708 Moris Aynechi Beverly Hills Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Institute 310-275-2200 Serge Baltayan Gateway Dental Group and Orthodontics 951-359-5200 Michael Borenstein Michael C. Borenstein, D.D.S. 310-289-6999 Warren Brooks Brooks Oral Surgery 310-641-6124 David Cedeño David Cedeño, MD, DDS 213-977-0943 Rennie Cheung Southern California Oral & Maxillofacial Surgical Arts 310-670-0220 Nam Cho 7HJPÄJ *VHZ[ 6YHS Maxillofacial Surgery 626-446-0728

Shaun Daneshgar Oral Surgery Center 323-653-9440 1LɈYL` +VUSL]` Drs. Donlevy, Estess & Lohiya 310-337-0007 Husam Elias ;OL 7HJPÄJ *VHZ[ Center for Oral, Facial and Cosmetic Surgery 626-440-0099 1LɈYL` ,SV Western University of Health Sciences 909-706-3910 Abraham Estess Drs. Donlevy, Estess & Lohiya 310-318-3333 Bassem Farid Premier Care Dental Group 626-795-6855 Omar Faridi Peter S. Lam, DDS & Omar M. Faridi, DDS, MD 626-966-8518 Fariborz Farnad Los Angeles Jaw Surgery 818-989-4100 Alan Felsenfeld UCLA School of Dentistry 310-825-0834 Earl Freymiller UCLA School of Dentistry 310-825-0834 Gabriel Gabbaypour Beverly Hills Oral Surgery 310-276-1155 Douglas Galen Douglas M. Galen, D.D.S. 310-855-1000

Steve Choi Huntington Orthodontics and Dental Specialties 626-254-0207

Hamlet Garabedian 7HJPÄJ 6YHS Maxillofacial Surgery and Dental Implant Center 818-484-8939

Simon Choyee Dr. Choyee Oral Surgeon 562-947-4781

Narbeh Gharakhanian Greenwood Dental & Orthodontics 323-728-3272

Stephen Goei South Pasadena Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 626-799-2999 1LɈYL` /HTTV\KLO 7HJPÄJ *VHZ[ 6YHS Maxillofacial Surgery 818-241-4217 Saman Harouni Sam Harouni, DDS 424-317-8566

R. Lang Heritage Oral Surgery & Implant Center 661-253-3500

Daniel Niemann Huntington Oral Surgery and Implant Center 626-441-2331

Dennis Smiler Implant Team Seminars (ITS) 310-562-5904

Bach Le Whittier Oral Surgery 562-947-8611

Lauren Odono 7HJPÄJ *VHZ[ 6YHS Maxillofacial Surgery 626-796-9246

Brittany Sonnichsen )LSSÅV^LY 6YHS -HJPHS Surgery & Dental Implant Center 562-222-3607

Kevin Lew Kevin E. Lew, DDS, MD, Inc. 323-465-6451

Nadia Hassan LA Dental Town 213-320-0453

Samuel Liu Peak Dental Specialists 626-335-4287

Brennan Hughes The Practice of Dr. Brennan Hughes 562-927-7800

Sapna Lohiya Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 310-318-3333

Gil Ivry Santa Monica Center for Oral Surgery & Dental Implants 310-315-1034

Serge Lokot West Valley Oral Surgery Group 818-788-4424

Nora Kahenasa West Coast Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Center and Center For Osseointegration 310-820-6691 Murray Kaufman Allure Ambulatory Surgery Center 310-275-2200 Lindon Kawahara Lindon Ken Kawahara, MD, DMD, Inc. 310-373-2238 Alan Kaye Alan H. Kaye, DDS 310-275-1134 Apel Keuroghlian Total Family Dental Specialists 310-539-2344 Armond Kotikian 7HJPÄJ 6YHS Maxillofacial Surgery and Dental Implant Center 818-484-8939 Steven Kupferman Los Angeles Center for Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental Implants & Wisdom Teeth 310-842-4811 Peter Lam Peter S. Lam, DDS & Omar M. Faridi, DDS, MD 626-966-8518

Robert Lytle Lytle, Tate & Stamper Oral Surgery 818-381-0057 John Lytle Lytle, Tate & Stamper Oral Surgery 818-381-0032 Martin Mardirosian Oral Surgery Partners 310-375-0514 Pedram Marhabi Dentists of South Pasadena 626-593-0053 James McAndrews Dr. James P. McAndrews, DDS 562-923-7257 Alexei Mizin Alameda Oral Surgery Group 818-845-2616 Parvaz Mizrahi Parvaz Farnad Mizrahi, DDS, MPH 310-652-6491 Peter Moy West Coast Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Center and Center For Osseointegration 310-820-6691 Stephen Needle Stephen E. Needle, DDS 310-453-5330

Thomas Omoto Peninsula Oral Surgery & Implants 310-325-7800

Albern Spoolstra Albern Spoolstra, DDS 562-421-8896

Mark Oseas South Bay Oral Surgery and Dental Implants 310-373-7773

Elgan Stamper Lytle, Tate & Stamper Oral Surgery 818-381-0057

Howard Park Santa Monica Center for Oral Surgery & Dental Implants 310-315-1034

W. Stephens ;OL 7HJPÄJ *VHZ[ Center for Oral, Facial and Cosmetic Surgery 626-440-0099

Leon Peck Leon R. Peck, DDS, PhD, Professional Corporation 310-657-6363

Theodore Tanabe Theodore A. Tanabe, D.D.S. 562-698-0387

Richard Petty San Gabriel Valley Dental Society 626-285-1174

Richard Ting Santa Monica Center for Oral Surgery & Dental Implants 310-315-1034

Vladimir Polyakov Synergy Dental Implant and Oral Surgery Center 310-772-0700

Mark Urata 7HJPÄJ *VHZ[ 6YHS Maxillofacial Surgery 818-241-4217

Robert Relle Los Angeles Center for Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental Implants & Wisdom Teeth 310-842-4811 Dustin Rowe Dustin L. Rowe, DDS, OMS 562-496-0111 David Salehani David Salehani, D.D.S., M.D. 310-275-3635 Payam Samouhi Nova Oral Surgery and Implant Center 818-986-6787 Ramin Shabtaie University Oral Surgery Center 310-208-3471 Vivek Shetty UCLA School of Dentistry 310-825-0834

Gregory Urfrig Agoura Hills Oral Surgery 818-707-0357 Kris Uyehara Dr. Kris H. Uyehara, D.D.S., M.D. 310-275-1184 Ramtin Vahadi Torrance Oral, Facial Surgery & Dental Implants 310-373-6833 Saman Vahedi Wilshire Oral Surgery and Implant Center 310-954-9449 Benjamin Walline Los Angeles Center for Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental Implants & Wisdom Teeth 310-842-4811 ;YLU[ >LZ[LYUVɈ Oral Surgery Partners 310-375-0514 L A M AG . C O M 1 13

2021 TOP DENTISTS

DAVID ALPAN, DDS, MSD Orthodontics Alpan Orthodontics 2424 W. Third St., Los Angeles, CA 90057 213.382.8228 aeortho.com

Roland Williams Crenshaw Professional Dental Center 323-731-0801 Thomas Ying Manhattan Beach Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery 310-372-7575 Kyle Yip 7HJPÄJ *VHZ[ 6YHS Maxillofacial Surgery 626-446-0728

ORTHODONTICS Robin Abari Abari Orthodontics & Oral Surgery 909-599-4000 David Alpan Alpan Orthodontics 213-382-8228 Harry Aronowitz Orthodontic Second Opinion 310-246-0100 Paul Austin Austin Orthodontics 310-393-8233 Arash Bakhtari Riviera Orthodontics 310-316-3511 Gary Baum Baum Orthodontics 310-208-5678 Bradley Baum Baum Orthodontics 310-208-5678 Brian Bergh Bergh Orthodontics 818-659-5387 1 14 L A M AG . C O M

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Glenn Bloore Glenne E. Bloore DDS, 310-277-9700

:[\HY[ /VɈTHU Calabasas Orthodontics 818-222-0900

Jonathan Shouhed West LA Orthodontics 424-256-3496

Peter Brenn Brenn Orthodontics 818-563-3825

Barney Hom Hom Orthodontics 310-376-8725

Tina Siu TM Smiles 626-796-0615

Milton Chan Chan Orthodontics 626-449-5826

Danny Horii Danny Horii, DDS 310-329-4177

Craig Cheung Fair Oaks Orthodontics 626-795-5978

Kathleen Hwang Kathleen C. Hwang Orthodontics 626-425-9986

Rita Chuang Breeze Orthodontics 310-540-5911 Vivian Chui Vivian W. Chui DDS 818-790-6102 1LɈYL` *VOLU 1LќYL` 4 *VOLU +4+ 310-247-8880 Heather Desh HD Orthodontics 562-283-6590 Harry Dougherty Dougherty Orthodontics 818-986-6223 Esther Feldman Feldman Orthodontics 424-299-4270 Vacharee Fell Culver City Orthodontics 310-837-5900 Mehdi Fotovat Mehdi Fotovat, D.D.S. 818-980-5300 Lisa Gao Westwood Orthodontics 310-208-6333 Mark Garlington Mark A. Garlington D.D.S. 562-439-4553 Dan Grauer Grauer Orthodontics 310-401-2929 F. Hakim The Orthospaceship Hakim Orthodontics 310-271-7287

William Hyman Hyman Orthodontics 323-726-8300 Richard Jacobson Orthodontic Center LA 310-454-0317 Lesley Jeong Fair Oaks Orthodontics 626-795-5978 Ara Jil-Agopian Orthodontic Centers of California 818-366-9200 Gary Kevorkian DesignerSmiles Orthodontics 818-244-8663 Rehana Khan Santa Monica Orthodontics 310-393-3344 John Kishibay Ocean Park Orthodontics 310-581-5757 Howard Lee Huntington Orthodontics and Dental Specialties 626-254-0207 Vivian Lee Vivian Lee Orthodontics 626-821-9364 Vivian Luong Toothopia Dental 310-219-6494 Monica Madan Beverly Hills Orthodontics 310-785-0770

Robert Hambleton Hambleton & MacFarlane 626-795-0634

Marie Mansour Central Orthodontics 818-500-7030

Chandler Ho Hudson and Ho Orthodontics 818-244-2121

Luis Martines Larchmont Village Orthodontics 323-465-7100

FRANK PITA, DDS, MSD Orthodontics Pita Orthodontics 500 E. Olive Ave., Suite 630 Burbank, CA 91501 818.848.0100 pitaorthodontics.com

Stanley Miyawaki ;OL 6Y[OVKVU[PJ 6ѝJL of Dr. Stanley Miyawaki 310-826-6694 Sid Molayem Beverly Hills Braces 310-278-9101 Matt Nashed Orthodontist Children’s Dentistry 626-294-9119

David Sparks Dr. David L. Sparks DDS 562-985-0473

Michael Theurer Theurer Orthodontics 616-541-4461

Aneri Gandhi David A. Chin, D.D.S. & Associates 818-790-6721

John Trotter John H. Trotter, DDS, MS 310-373-0093 Marjorie Tsutsui Marjorie T. Tsutsui, DDS 310-791-1790 Patrick Turley Patrick Turley, DDS, MSD 310-643-0125

Brian Noguchi Noguchi Orthodontics 424-257-3464

Kimberley Wu Wu Orthodontics 626-403-6500

Kathleen Nuckles Kathleen J. Nuckles, DDS Miriam V. Van Allen, DDS 310-208-8273

Jelson Yalung Oak Park Dentistry for Children & Orthodontics 818-889-5440

(SVU 6ÄY 6ÄY 6Y[OVKVU[PJZ 562-396-9820

Merilynn Yamada Buena Vista Orthodontics 818-846-3774

Dovi Prero Prero Orthodontics 310-595-2882

Joseph Fiktarz Joseph F. Fiktarz, DDS 562-923-4543 Scott Fishman Pediatric Dental Arts 562-927-6453

Alexander Waldman Waldman Orthodontics 310-652-1515

Frank Pita Pita Orthodontics 818-848-0100

Santos Cortez Pediatric Dental Specialists 562-377-1375

Gregg Tartakow Orthodontic Center of Santa Monica 310-888-1885

Pejman Nasibi Dreamland Dental & Orthodontics 562-867-2026

Gregory Ohanian GO Orthodontics 626-500-0626

David Chin David A. Chin, D.D.S. & Associates 818-790-6721

Audrey Yoon Dr. Audrey Yoon 213-383-3460

PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY Gardner Beale Dentistry For Children 310-641-9233

David Rudolph David J. Rudolph, DDS, MS, PhD 818-718-1737

Jane Caballero Smiles West 323-826-5855

Warren Schacter Schacter Orthodontics 818-348-0085

Toni Chen Toni Chen DDS, Inc. 626-656-8680

Lily Ghafouri Sunset Pediatric Dental Group 310-273-5776 Mark Goldenberg Beverly Hills Pediatric Dentistry 310-271-5231 Bernard Gross Westside Pediatric Dental Group 310-393-9528 Darrin Hirt Beverly Hills Pediatric Dentistry 310-271-5231 Janelle Holden Janelle Holden D.D.S. 310-545-5757 Eunice Im KidVenture Dental 626-445-8600 Susan Jarakian Kid’s Choice Dental Care 818-772-1800 Peter Joe Little Crown Pediatric Dentistry 626-403-1800 Michelle Kelman Pediatric Dental Center 310-659-8863 Michael Kleinman Westside Pediatric Dental Group 310-451-5748 Jill Lasky Lasky Pediatric Dental Group 818-465-7545

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION Michael Lasky Lasky Pediatric Dental Group 818-465-7545 Sonia Lim La Petite Kids Dentist 626-796-7600 Estelle Liou Dino Kids’ Dental 626-788-9008 Oariona Lowe Lowe & Rossopoulos Dental Specialists 951-371-8833 Natalie Mansour Natalie Mansour DMD 818-500-7330 Matt Nashed Orthodontist Children’s Dentistry 626-294-9119 Pooyan Nasibi Montebello Children’s Dentistry 323-597-1195 Randall Niederkohr Randall E. Niederkohr, D.D.S. 323-463-8322 Fariborz Rodef Children’s Dental FunZone 626-966-3033 Sumalee Sangsurasak Sumalee Sangsurasak, DDS 626-792-2782 Joseph Sciarra Joseph P. Sciarra DDS 818-224-2970 Evangeline Shitabata First Smiles Pediatric Dentistry 310-375-5437 Kevin Snaer Huntington Pediatric Dental Group 626-449-8963 Eddie So Arcadia Pediatric Dental Practice & Orthodontics 626-445-6666 Sanah Sohrab Total Family Dental Group 310-539-5045 Peter Suh Peter S. Suh, DMD 818-790-5959

Wayne Tofukuji Sena Hiradate, DDS and Wayne Tofukuji, DDS 310-375-7671

Glenn Chang Huntington Orthodontics and Dental Specialties 626-254-0207

William Worden William J. Worden, DDS 562-597-2448

Allan Charles Pasadena Periodontal Associates 626-796-5361

Lenise Yarber The Children’s Dental Specialist 310-327-7969

PERIODONTICS Alexandre Aalam Center for Advanced Periodontal & Implant Therapy 310-299-8329 Alexandre-Amir Aalam Center For Advanced Periodontal and Implant Therapy 310-299-8329 Christopher Acone Healthy Smiles Periodontics & Implant Dentistry 424-263-4919 Emad Ammar Emad Ammar, D.D.S., Inc. 818-244-9944 Sarvenaz Angha Pasadena Periodontal Associates 626-796-5361 David Anson Aesthetic Dental Implants & Periodontics 310-601-8075 Farshid Ariz TMJ & Sleep Therapy Centre of San Fernando Valley 888-902-0909 Oded Bahat Oded Bahat BDS, MSD, FACD 310-859-8123 Sharyar Baradaran Dr. Sharyar Baradaran DDS, MS 310-947-8625 John Cargasacchi John M. Cargasacchi, DDS. 562-865-0196

Leshin Chen LA Wilshire Periodontics 213-481-2699 Peter Cooper Pasadena Dental Implants 626-796-1241 Fabrizio Dall’Olmo Dr. Fabrizio Dall’Olmo and Associates 310-736-1051 Nazanin Daneshmand MD Periodontics 310-859-9449 Sharona Dayan Aurora Periodontal Care 310-205-0900 John Ducar John P. Ducar, DDS, INC 310-540-1415 Jean-Jacques Elbaz The Beverly Hills Center for Advanced Dental Implants & Periodontology 310-274-0456 Alex Farnoosh The Total Smile: Dr. Alex Farnoosh 424-363-9485 J. Fuentes Arcadia Perio 626-662-1084 ;OVTHZ .HɈHUL` ;OVTHZ , .HќHUL` DDS 562-698-2561 Edith Gevorgian Edith Gevorgian, DDS 818-244-2181 Jonathan Gordon Couture Smiles Dental Group 818-716-7966 Homan Hanasab Canyon Family Dentistry 818-765-4422 Mark Handelsman Mark Handelsman, D.D.S. 310-829-7550

Tyler Hendry Glendale Periodontics & Dental Implants 818-423-5370 Joel Henriod Pasadena Periodontics & Dental Implants 626-247-3400 Taylor Hoang Burbank Periodontics 818-842-6162

Shervin Molayem Bedford Dental Group 310-278-0600 Sanda Moldovan Dr. Sanda Moldovan 310-651-6588 Wilson Morishita Pasadena Periodontal Associates 626-796-5361

Kalid Hosn Synergy Endodontics 661-267-0617

(IKVSSHO 4VZOYLÄ Bixby Knolls Dental Group 562-485-9917

1LɈYL` /Z\ Pasadena Periodontal Associates 626-796-5361

Vahe Nakashyan Burbank Periodontics 818-842-6162

Alan Igasaki Alan Igasaki, DDS, Howard Igasaki, DDS 310-534-8844

Franklin Niver Encino Periodontics & Dental Implants 818-788-6600

Donna Klauser Arcadia Perio Care 626-577-8880

Joan Otomo-Corgel Perio Implant Health Professionals 213-481-0664

Alina Krivitsky Center for Advanced Periodontal & Implant Therapy 310-299-8329

Gordon Pattison LA Periodontics & Implant Specialists 310-473-3800

Ronald Lascoe Burbank Periodontics 818-842-6162 David Levine David F. Levine, DDS 818-558-7454 Ori Levy PhD Dental 323-777-7420 Wallace Lott Wallace Lott, DDS Periodontics & Implant Dentistry 310-373-6353 Miles Madison Beverly Hills Periodontal Institute 310-553-2940 Sam Markzar Beverly Hills Periodontal Arts and Implants 310-360-7570 William Matoska Perio Implant Health Professionals 213-481-0664 Sharon Miyamoto Sharon Miyamoto, DDS 424-398-0525

Alfred Penhaskashi Dr. Alfred Penhaskashi 818-937-0956 Victor Pineschi Victor Pineschi, DDS 310-826-8911 9HÄLS 9HÄLL Pasadena Family, Cosmetic & Implant Dentistry 626-304-3004 Carmen Ramos Carmen Ramos, DMD 310-372-4400 Ricardo Raschkovsky Perio Artist 310-652-7800 William Rees William S. Rees, DDS 310-373-8461 Ari Rosenblatt Periodontal & Implant Specialists of Beverly Hills 310-273-1900 Androush Safarian Androush Safarian, DMD 818-241-6860

Sean Sakhai Robert L. Merin, D.D.S., M.S., Inc. Sean Sakhai, D.D.S., M.S., Inc. 818-887-7772 Afshin Salamati Afshin Salamati, DDS, MS 424-379-3456 Andrew Satlin Andrew M. Satlin, DDS 310-826-7863 Diana Sedler Cutting Edge Periodontist 310-846-8800 :HOHY :OHÄ Santa Monica Bay Dental 310-453-8606 Rana Shahi LA Periodontics & Implant Specialists 310-473-3800 Ziv Simon Periodontal & Implant Specialists of Beverly Hills 310-273-1900 Krikor Simonian Krikor Simonian DDS 626-578-1853 Jay Sison Jay Sison DDS, D.M.S.C. 310-215-1180 Peiman Soleymani Beverly Hills Periodontics & Dental Implant Center 310-275-4606 Daraporn Tanpattana Dr. Todd H. Yamada and Dr. Daraporn (June) Tanpattana 310-473-2727 Marc Waki Burbank Periodontics 818-842-6162 Vincent Wang Vincent W.H. Wang, D.D.S., M.S. 626-796-2800 David Warner David A. Warner, DDS., Inc. 562-945-7621 1LɈYL` >H[LYTHU 1LќYL` + >H[LYTHU DDS 310-441-1141 L A M AG . C O M 1 15

2021 TOP DENTISTS Todd Yamada Dr. Todd H. Yamada and Dr. Daraporn (June) Tanpattana 310-473-2727 Jason Yamada Implant & Periodontal Institute of Torrance 310-320-5661 Eva Yancey Santa Monica Dentists 310-828-1513 Linda Yang Linda R. Yang, D.D.S 949-640-6683 Bertina Yuen Claremont Modern Dentistry 909-626-1236

PROSTHODONTICS Scott Adishian Scott R. Adishian, DDS 626-796-3700 Edward Baxley Beverly Hills Prosthodontics 310-276-7028

Sangho Byun Pasadena Oral Health Center 626-796-3161 Winston Chee Center for Prosthetic Dentistry 818-956-6611 Min Chung VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System - West Los Angeles Medical Center 310-478-3711 Aria Davodi Beverly Hills Prosthodontics 310-276-7028 Mark Exler Mark D. Exler, D.D.S., F.A.C.P. 818-501-0663 Simon Gamer Beverly Hills Center for Aesthetic and Restorative Dentistry 310-888-1850 Adam Geach Geach Dental 213-810-3368

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION Yoshi Goto Brentwood Dental Center 310-820-6696 Ronald Koslowski Ronald Koslowski D.D.S., F.A.C.P. 818-986-9036 Irving Lebovics Dr. Irving Lebovics 310-659-8152 Ramin Mahallati Center for Implant & Esthetic Dentistry 310-846-8386 Christopher Marchack Pasadena Prosthodontics 626-793-6700 Vahik Meserkhani LA Dentists Group 818-242-4046 Anthony Mobasser Cosmetic Dentist Los Angeles 310-550-0383

Gianmarco O’Brien Mark A. George, D.D.S 714-953-1000 Steven Okamoto Steven K. Okamoto, DDS 310-373-1120 Paul Parminter Dr. Paul Parminter, D.D.S. 310-820-9800 Dean Ramus Dean Ramus, DDS 310-652-2679 Mamaly Reshad ArtLab Dentistry 818-465-5041 MariaElena Rodriguez South Bay Periodontics & Implant Surgery 310-534-5500 Evangelos Rossopoulos Lowe & Rossopoulos Dental Specialists 562-907-4522

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1 16 L A M AG . C O M

Antoine Sayegh Antoine S. Sayegh, DDS, Inc. 626-963-7581

Theodore Tso Harbor UCLA Medical Center 424-306-4000

Aaron Schwartzman Zweig Schwartzman Prosthodontics 310-601-4041

Vincent Tso South Pasadena Restorative Dentistry 626-799-6255

Han Scoble Han Scoble, DDS 310-276-8897

Frank Vidjak Frank M.A. Vidjak, DDS, MSEd 310-248-2786

Charlotte Senseny Torrance Prosthodontist Charlotte Senseny, DMD 310-539-2282

Ryan Wallace Ryan C. Wallace, DDS, FACP 310-393-8317

Harel Simon Gide Dental 310-696-9025

Roy Yanase Yanase Dental Group 310-736-1063

Gary Solnit Beverly Hills Center for Aesthetic and Restorative Dentistry 310-888-1850

Careen Young Careen W. Young, DDS, MSD 310-800-8160

Arman Torbati Arman Torbati, DDS 310-553-3428

Alan Zweig Zweig Schwartzman Prosthodontics 310-601-4041

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THE

Devil ’s BARGAIN

In 1995, Tupac Shakur was in Rikers Island on sexual assault charges when L.A. rap entrepreneur Suge Knight offered to pay his $3 million bail on the condition he sign with Knight’s Death Row Records. A year later, Shakur was dead, assassinated in a drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. The fraught relationship between the rising superstar and his ruthless would-be mentor is captured in this excerpt from the just-published oral history of Shakur’s life.

ALL EYES ON HIM Shakur (left) and Knight attend a Mike Tyson prizefight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, March 1996. Their once-tight partnership, sealed by millions in album sales and fierce loyalty, was starting to unravel as the rapper sought to distance himself from the violence and paranoia at Death Row Records. Six months later, they were ambushed by assassins after leaving another bout at the MGM, killing Shakur and wounding Knight.

DR. JOHN FILDES The kind of gunshot wound that he had is immediately fatal for most people. And for those who survive the surgery—a surgery that required removal of a lung—80 percent of them don’t survive. He survived that injury better than any other patient in my 30-year career.

shared that intelligence, and Las Vegas cops did not do a thing. After the beatdown at the casino, they didn’t even take his name. They didn’t even do an incident report. It was a really shoddy investigation into one of the biggest murder cases in Las Vegas history, including the mob.

GOBI RAHIMI I didn’t go in and see him, for whatever reason, until the fifth night.

It was a horrific sight. His head was twice the size of normal, and everywhere that he had a bullet wound had a patch of gauze. I went up and put my hand on his arm, said a little prayer, and walked out.

GREG KADING Las Vegas PD knew that Orlando Anderson was the primary suspect in their case. They knew that he had gotten into a fight with Tupac and knew that he had been involved in other violent crimes and knew that other members of the South Side Crips were in Vegas. These weren’t incompetent investigators that were trying not to solve the crime.

BY SHELDON PEARCE From CHANGES: An Oral History of Tupac Shakur. Copyright ©2021

by Sheldon Pearce. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

72 L A M AG . C O M

The Devil’s Bargain C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 7 7

ately prepped for the OR. He also was intubated and artificially ventilated. He went to the operating room and he had life-saving surgery and then was taken to the ICU and was managed minute by minute, 24 hours a day. A lot of the physicians didn’t know who he was when he came in. They didn’t realize until later that evening, or till the next day, that Tupac was of importance to the media and the arts. So he was treated cutting-edge, he was treated aggressively, and he was treated well, like every other patient gets treated.

GOBI RAHIMI The first night, they had him on the first floor, and he was visible from outside the windows. I felt like I was Enzo the Baker—the Persian version. It was unreal [Tupac] was the number one rapper in the world, and it became so clear that a Black man didn’t “deserve” what white people did.

I called the cops, and they were like, “Should something happen, there’s a foot patrolman in the hospital. We’re a little understaffed right now.” The security guard started laughing. He told me there was a rodeo star that had broken a leg the year before, and they gave him four policemen around the clock and six honey wagons for his family. After the fact, I learned that a couple of the Outlawz [Tupac’s former group] were outside and had gats with them, and they were ready to blast anyone who came in.

MARK ANTHONY NEAL (AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES CHAIR, DUKE UNIVERSITY) It surprised no one that he stayed alive for another week. It was just something about his spirit and his nature. We talked about him, broadly, as kind of a warrior. It wasn’t a surprise that he fought to stay alive for so long.

1 18 L A M AG . C O M

RYAN D ROLLINS (RAPPER) Days passed, and then somebody close to the situation called me and told me that he’d died that morning. I remember thinking it was weird. I just knew in a minute we were gonna hook back up.

I’d come down to Hollywood or wherever he was. I was just like, “Wow, it’s over that quick.”

KHALIL KAIN (ACTOR) I was on this show called Lush Life when Pac passed.

And Lori Petty was the one who told me. We were setting up a closer. Lori came up from behind the camera: “Your boy just died.” We were on the Warner Bros. lot, on the soundstage. I walked right off the set. I sat down outside the door on the soundstage and just cried my eyes out.

CATHY SCOTT I walked into the coroner’s office and said, “I’m looking for the coroner’s report on Lesane Crooks.”

[Tupac’s real name] The woman handed me the report for a five-dollar fee. I was back in the newsroom for about five minutes when she called and said, “We made a mistake. I shouldn’t have given that to you because it’s an open investigation. Would you return it?” I said, “I’m sorry, I can’t.” I got that autopsy report almost immediately because I knew the police were just shutting down everything. Orlando Anderson went home on Saturday.

In the first 24 hours, Compton PD got the Cadillac [used in the shooting], which went back to this auto repair shop. So they did bodywork on it and got rid of bullet holes because Tupac’s entourage shot back. CPD is saying Orlando Anderson is bragging to all of South Central that he shot Tupac. They

CATHY SCOTT I think that [the Las Vegas police] are partly responsible for all the conspiracy theories surrounding the case because they didn’t just come straight out and say what happened.

It was as if they didn’t care enough to solve it. If it had been a white rapper— if it had been Eminem—or if it had been a white singer who did a different genre of music, they would have solved the crime. They just looked at [Tupac] as a thug. They could easily just name Orlando Anderson as the killer, close that case. They won’t do it. It’s almost like it is stubbornness on their part.Because all the evidence points to it.

GREG KADING Of course, in 1998, Orlando died. Until we got involved, we didn’t even actually know exactly who was in the car. And nearly everybody in there has died. Like universal karma.

Orlando died in the exact same way that he should have died. Like, perfect justice.

KENDRICK WELLS I recorded some footage for a song called “Unconditional Love.” It was originally entitled “Things Change.” Tupac went to Tower Records and grabbed this sample. And Johnny J hooked that shit up, like, instantly. They brought in a bass player, a guitar player, and a keyboard player in the making of this song. Johnny J and Tupac are bantering back and forth, having fun, laughing. And, you know, recently I was looking at that footage, and it was like that was the last of the peaceful times.

They’re all having fun. I look at this video and I’m like, “Damn, four dudes in this video are dead.”

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Q

E MAI L YOUR BURNI NG QUEST IONS ABOUT L.A. TO ASKCH RIS@LAMAG.COM

Is it true that McDonald’s shoots all its TV ads at a defunct burger place in L.A.?

CHRIS’S PICK

Prop Art SLEEK FURNITURE AND THE FINAL FRONTIER

T H E Y D E S E RV E A B R E A K T ODAY

A: Ronald, Grimace, and the Hamburglar once shut down busy restaurants for filming, but since 1978, most TV ads have been shot at what the company calls the McDonald’s Production Center in the City of Industry. The 5,000-square-foot facility has a soundstage, a dining room, and two kitchens: a facsimile of a real one and another filled with clothing steamers, dry ice, and bins of sesame seeds used by food stylists. Fun fact: microwaved tampons are placed behind cups to create the illusion of steaming coffee. This year is the 50th anniversary of the McDonaldland characters. (McDonald’s was founded in San Bernardino in 1948.) Maybe they’ll let exiled Mayor McCheese and the gang out of the wardrobe closet.

Q: Who owns the amusement park at the end of the Santa Monica Pier, and how long has it been there?

A: When the first roller coaster and swing ride were placed on the pier in 1916, Pancho Villa was still fighting the Mexican Revolution.

Rides came and went through storms, fires, and redevelop1 20 L A M AG . C O M

ment schemes until 1996, when 37-yearold TV executive Richard Olshansky reinvented the amusement zone as Pacific Park, which sees 8 million annual visitors and sports a solar-powered Ferris wheel and electric bumper cars. His kids grew up, and he sold it to his CEO in 2012. She flipped the lease to a real estate

trust spun off from AMC theaters with an eclectic portfolio that includes water parks, a Margaritaville hotel, and two Titanic museums.

Don’t lean over the railing while wearing expensive jewels.

Q: What’s the biggest cemetery in Los Angeles?

A: The largest on the whole continent

is Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, sprawling across 1,400 acres east of downtown. It used to be nearly twice as big, but 1,100 acres reserved for future burials were sold off and developed as an industrial park in the ’90s. Tommy Lasorda, Eazy-E, and a couple of Little Rascals are among the roughly 700,000 residents of the rolling hills studded with rose gardens.

The skyline of the 107-year-old park includes the largest Buddhist pagoda in the country, artificial caves, and an enormous pink neon sign rising above it all.

STA R T R E K : CO U RT E SY W E L D O N OW E N

Ronald and Grimace relax on set between takes at the McDonald’s Production Center in 1981.

O After bingewatching all 79 episodes of Star Trek, midcentury-design enthusiast Dan Chavkin recognized the Brady Bunch’s dinette set on the bridge of the Enterprise and noted that Dr. McCoy’s scalpel was actually a salt shaker. Chavkin’s new book, Star Trek: Designing the Final Frontier—cowritten with Brian McGuire— lays out how the props of the twentythird century were sourced from modernist-furniture shops around L.A. and modified by designers at Paramount. Combine colored lights and a lantern by Malcolm Leland, and you’ve got the control panel for a baby alien in an episode from 1966. Bolstered with plywood, an office chair became Captain Kirk’s command center. That sold at auction for over $300,000 and is on display at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture.

VOLUME 66, NUMBER 8. LOS ANGELES (ISSN 1522-9149) is published monthly by Los Angeles Magazine, LLC. Principal office: 10100 Venice Blvd., Culver City, , CA 90232. Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA, and additional mailing offices. The one-year domestic subscription price is $14.95. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to LOS ANGELES, 1965 E. Avis Dr., Madison Heights, MI 48071. Not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or other materials, which must be accompanied by return postage. SUBSCRIBERS: If the Postal Service alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year.

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